


"Honor, Lie"

by chroniclesofatimelord



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Imada, Kamachi, Shun Shinge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 15:43:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 36,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10857039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chroniclesofatimelord/pseuds/chroniclesofatimelord
Summary: Written by Robert J. Meddings.Inspired by the movies of Akira Kawasawa, a famous Japanese director, this tale takes place in feudal Japan as the Doctor and her companion becomes mixed up in a series of politics and fighting. Where can it lead to? And why is the girl named Yuki so important to the current events of the story?Swordfights. Assassins. bandit. The film "Hidden Fortress" from Kawasawa serves as the model for this story. One of the rare times when the Doctor visits the East.





	"Honor, Lie"

"Honor, Lie"  
By Robert J. Meddings

Part One  
Chapter one  
Swelling in desire, so beautiful in sight, the countryside revealed with the Sakura trees which filled the lush greenery roaring with mature progress. Spreading loins of nature erupted with a plunging weight, the Bloodgood maple trees rolled across with wind-shuffled bodies.  
Such a fantastic view could not be easily ignored. Warm, gentle whispers between the trees and the hallowed skies pressed the softness of silence into the picture. Something woke in the forest.  
It gave a steely glimpse of ancient beauty in the woods, and the passing glance in the riches of the orient could be found here. The eastern vibes painted the background with a sincere brightness of the sinking sun.  
Not “riches” in the most superficial sense of money, but the richness of the grounds and trees which flourished with an everlasting glimmer of growth. It was the perfection of the hills, and the coalescing shadows snapping together like stuck pages, that stroked the world in the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japan.  
You could see the temple from here. 

Chapter two  
Now there stood the great emblem of the torii which remained impressive on the large legs, an impressive arch, soaring above the spring season with soaking thighs of wood. It would invite those who came here on their own accord, maybe a pilgrimage.  
Beyond the standing torrid, like a pinnacle of wealth, sat the oyima that was blessed by the gods. Its curvy roof slipped upwards with smooth edges while the rumbustious décor tagged the edges with sheer extravagance.  
The high notes of stairways led higher to the peaceful efidence that stood on the hill. It was the symbol of the world still pushing through the days of thunder where the samurai moved through the countryside like powerful figures.  
In the deeper part of the forest, like a raging storm, beget a rushing storm of horses trampling down the thatched paths. The foothooves clambered over them with a wild stir, running and pounding with a message of haste.  
And the men rode the horses in a spearing motion that caused them to pour through the thicket of woods.  
They were loud, cantankerous horses whinnying with guttural sounds, and their nostrils flared like fire from a furnace. Their eyes beamed like hot coals of hell itself. Their steady frames rode between the engorge belly of the forest, cutting with high speeds.  
The horsemen looked angry.

Chapter three  
The town of Qichang slept like a baby along the far eastern coast in the country where the wind pressed down like heavy hands and the sadness did not yet fill the galloping music of trees and grass.  
This town became a trading site in which many other people walked from other towns to do shopping. Qichang overlooked the lives of many people who attended the farmer's market that thrived like a page of economic success.  
Though the farmer's market may be only a couple blocks wide stretching down the main street of Dulaangon Road, the busting activities treated the people with tons of varieties in food and goods.  
Local people, and out-of-towners, lingered in their ritualistic shopping manners, sharing their enthusiasm for fruits and vegetables sold by vendors. They pitched their perfect deals while the customers shuffled between buys. The sweet aroma of bread fueled the air with so much delight.  
The softness of the winds played against the small burden of Qichang while people ushered into the crowded market that rippled with good products. How could you pass up something like a lovely kasa that would protect you from the rain? Or the hoki which would swipe the dirt from your doorstep?  
People's faces squinted, offered a color of sunshine, and their eyes gifted with knowledge. They moved like fish in the sea, always polite in their greetings. They would make sharp nods to each other.  
A simple life.  
A simple culture.  
Moving closer to Qichang, like an approaching menace, was the rioting, bombastic herd of horses cutting across the splitting dirt. They moved in rage while sloshing through the footpaths leading to the town. The horsemen were like a dirty crowd, reckless in their pursuits, strangers in the mists.  
Their rushing stomping carved a route into the paradise of woods, getting closer, moving like a storm that went askew. The next town was but only a mile away.  
Their faces dragged with threatening rain of expressions. 

Chapter four  
They were moving across like a cloud now... an oncoming rush of noise. Always hurrying, they grew like a wave of wild men on horses. The titanic rage fell against the small trail that threaded between the woods.  
Now the warrior horses tore like a hurricane of roars, dashing and breaking down the branches with their rude ways, their stomping feet like snapping heartbeats of commotion. And they were a sweeping blackness that plagued the next town. Their face were a grinding score of hatred.  
The people of Qichang were greeted by the heathen group of horsemen who welcomed them with extreme disdain.  
Otherwise the town was just a poetic ease of buildings, few, simple, and yet none too intrusive. The people filled this town with an ordinary life often seen in the fifteen hundreds. It was a jigsaw puzzle of lifestyles: simple yet beautiful.  
Yes, this town offered a great bliss that told the tale of peace, and now that calm was interrupted by the current crowd.  
Four horsemen, two in front and the others in tow, rode into the town with a fury, and they threw a storm of gravel spit in the air with the rampage. The cloud of dust fell away to reveal what looked like soldiers on horses.  
Their faces hid beneath the paddy hats that sat on the heads like triangles. Their eyes covered in long shadows.  
The foreman in the group took two steps with his horse, a downtrodden trot, and shifted himself with a disquieting authority that suggested he was the leader. He wore white clothe that hanged with black stripes.  
“I am known as Imada Shinobu,” the horseman said. “I'm looking for a strange female. She is a criminal. Have you seen her?”

Chapter five  
No one said anything, but only watched in stark fear. Some of the people in the crowd shuddered as the horseman strutted in anger like a god in an unpleasant mood.  
“Well?” Imada said.  
The people looked at each other with shrugged shoulders, and they moved in a web of contradictions as they murmured to themselves. They were either in confusion or hiding a secret from him.  
“I have been in a war and lived to tell about it,” Imada said. “I know when people are not telling the truth. I seek a woman who pretends to be lost. Did you not see this woman who was passing through? Yes or no?”  
The horseman struggled to maintain himself on the horse, and his features twisted into a disgusted grimace that was often saved for stray dogs. Now the calm of resolve was breaking beneath the wrecking hate in his eyes.  
Imada hated being lied to.  
One of the vendors spoke, a man in his thirties, selling bread to his customers. He wore a goatee that was well-trimmed and his demeanor suggested a peaceful solace about him. He also wore one of those conical hats that sat on his head.  
“I've seen no one,” the vendor said.  
“Eh?” Imada said.  
“There are also plenty of females here.”  
“Someone is trying to be funny?”  
The horseman snapped the reins as he gathered around the outspoken vendor trying to be a hero, and the raging man's hand darted for the sword at the side. He pulled it from the sheath with a quickness of fury. His fingers gripped the sword as he smacked the vendor with the flat of its side.  
It was the sheer kiss of steel that sent the vendor to the ground in a terrible hit, causing the poor fellow to rub his temple. Imada didn't like people who tried to steal the spotlight in crowds. The vendor tried to get up from the bad-mannered attack of the swordsman.  
The gravel felt rough and hurtful as the vendor had scrapped himself on the arm. Now it was going to take time for his wound to heal.  
The horseman continued to make his demands, but a young girl rushed to the vendor's help as she cowered under the man who carried the sword. Her hands covered the vendor's face with a soothing touch. Oh yes, the vendor was very lucky to have a pretty wife like that.  
Imada Shinobu rode the horse with a monumental strength while still gripping the hilt of the weapon. His snarl was like a plague of misery. His face narrowed as he could see the woman before him defying him. What townspeople were these who had courage?  
“Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!” the young girl shouted.  
The horseman laughed. No, this wasn't the right girl he was looking for, but she would make a feisty prize.  
“Leave him alone!” she screamed.  
“Ha ha! You hide behind a woman's ferocity?” Imada said to the vendor. “You are a weak fool not worthy of marriage. What of you, young woman? Have you seen a stranger?”  
The young woman's eyes glanced sideways towards the end of market, and Imada followed her swiping gaze. What she did was give away everything, and he moved along with a triumphant note.  
Now the dark haired Asian woman, framed with genuine beauty, trembled with fear as she scourged away from the passing horseman.  
Imada headed towards what looked like the fruits and vegetables section of the market, and his striding form was joined by his friend with the crazy eyes. They moved slow like a plow-furrow, remaining at the height of their power. Their figures towered over everyone with ease while they stayed on horses.  
The horsemen trotted towards the long dark-haired woman with her back turned to them. She made no sign of being aware of the surroundings around her. She was in her own world. 

Chapter six  
It angered Imada that a woman chose to ignore his presence, burying herself in other interests. He was upset that a woman kept her back to him which was insulting. No manners!  
This woman didn't follow the rules of politeness. She seemed to be leaning against the vendor table while looking over an orange to buy. He noticed that she wore red robes that hanged around her shoulders like a silk cloth.  
Imada felt his sordid anger growing now, heaving into an avalanche of brutish spill. His hand lifted the sword while his cutting form revealed the glee for war, his fingers gripping like coils of power.  
“Turn around!” he shouted.  
“Hmmm?” the dark haired woman said.  
“I told you to turn around and face me! Or do you want to lose your head?”  
The woman turned around to reveal herself like a whisper of genuine beauty from a summer breeze, and her eyes locked with his like clashing blades. She was, indeed, not Japanese, and the whiteness of her skin seemed to howl with a delicate sway.  
Her cheeks were soft while her lips thrived with a lively redness. Her dark eyes lifted to confront the attacker, always with defiance. She stood like a pillar of strength, always leaning with effortless glee. And she was smiling at him.  
“Is there something wrong?” the Doctor said.  
“A foreigner?” Imada glared.  
“Oh yes, I'm a visitor.”  
“What are you doing here?”  
“I have all the necessary papers right here,” the Doctor gestured with her hand. “I'm not reaching for a weapon.”  
“How have you come to be here?” Imada said.  
“That would be difficult to explain. It's a blue box.”  
The horseman gripped the sword even tighter, unsure of her. His face narrowed into caution while the Doctor reached into her inside coat pocket. She bit on her lips slightly as her fingers jimmied around for the right papers.  
After dipping her hand, she brought out what looked like a hand-sized notebook. She flipped open to reveal the empty paper that revealed nothing. And yet the horseman looked at it with a surprise, his chest rising with a fast beat.  
Something seemed to be written on the paper for the horseman.  
“I'm sorry to inconvenience you, madam,” Imada said. “However, as a missionary, you must adhere to the rules bestowed here. You do realize that sheltering a fugitive will make you an associate to the crime.”  
“I understand,” the Doctor said.  
“If you're lying...”  
Someone next to the Doctor stepped into the line of the conversation, his heaping frame boxed with authentic strength. He was ready to step into the inside world with a hammering attitude. The Chinese man looked annoyed.  
“How dare you suggest that?” TJ shouted.  
“Please don't concern yourself,” the Doctor said. “I can handle my own discussions.”  
“Your insult may lead to injury,” TJ said.  
“Call off your hound dog, woman,” Imada said.  
“Only if you order your men to turn back from our conversation. They make me nervous.”

Chapter seven  
The horseman made a gruff sound, a little annoyed. He remained on the horse like a towering beast, his head swiveled on his shoulders like a mountain of iron. His scar on his right temple flinched.  
He looked impish, but still gave the orders around his people: he nodded to the horde of men to lay down their swords while TJ did the same. It was a temporary truce.  
The Doctor lifted her hand with a sweep gesture, revealing herself to carry no swords at the moment. The gentle locks of her black hair rolled into clouds of softness on her shoulders while she offered a face of acceptance. A gust fell against the street where she stood while her raven-like hair dangled like midnight curtains around her neck.  
“I will not be a part of any violence at my own feet,” the Doctor said.  
Imada cackled slightly as his friend rode up beside him, almost like brothers riding to each battle with a knowing friendship. The horseman introduced his friend as Shun Shige whose eyes seemed to dance around like jittery balls in a loose bag.  
Their snickers bellowed with an underlying foulness that made you dirty, and perhaps they were looking at the Doctor in a way that suggested something else, their squatting faces glared like adolescent boys with shameful thoughts.  
Shun whispered to his friend, “I've never seen a woman who carried such authority as this.”  
“The west have strange customs, but they are not without manners,” Imada said in a louder voice.  
“Thank you,” the Doctor said.  
“We shall part as passing acquaintances for now,” Imada continued. “However, should I find anything that tells me you were untruthful, I will force you to leave.”  
“As you wish.”  
The other man on the second horse gave a creepy stare, his longish glare suggested something was crawling out of his soul. He looked like a man who kept a jar of spiders in his belly and he moved in a way that was slightly sickening. Seeing him made you want to itch.  
He was like a riding cadaver, his gaunt features long with expression, and yet he carried himself on like a small child sitting on the fence between giddy or sneering.  
Shun Shige nodded to TJ like a warrior sizing himself up against another, like soldiers meeting on a proverbial battleground. His long clothes flapped with a sloshing, and he looked like he enjoyed swimming in a sea of darkness.  
“Perhaps you will have to compete your archery skills with mine someday?” Shun said.  
“Unlikely,” TJ said.  
“It would give me something to look forward to.”  
The Doctor glared at her friend with a cutting look, brushing her shoulder against his to suggest that he backed down. It was like watching a couple of old dogs getting ready to lock horns with each other. The tension grew like a knot while the horsemen gathered around, their exploring eyes searching the farmer's market for anything.  
Anything at all.  
They found nothing at all. 

Chapter eight  
There grew a sudden coldness in the conversation that hit a dead end. The foreman of the group looked around with a hard stare as his horse galloped away.  
His fingers gripped against the weight of his weapon, returning it to the sheath that hanged from his hip. It made a whooshing sound that cut through the air. His powerful gestures became a storm of commands as he moved like a hurricane. His shoulders oh so broad that he was like a terrifying mountain, a jutting figure. Imada Shinobu nodded fiercely to the other horsemen as they began to follow his path.  
Shun leaned closer to the commander like a favorite puppy clinging to his master, his lips moving in the silence.  
Shun said, “I didn't see anything on the paper the woman showed you.”  
“I saw something on those papers. They were legitimate.”  
“I did not.”  
“Sorcery?” Imada said.  
“Possibly. Perhaps a fraud.”  
“Keep a watch on that one. She's slippery one.”  
Imada Shinobu turned to the others while his horse was in mid-step, and offered a brazened glance that could have stopped an army.  
“Sweep the grounds!” he shouted. “All of you!”  
So they continued to search the town of Qichang, making a ruckus as the foothooves patted the dirt with a wild, eager intent. It was time for them to play a game of hide-and-seek for the missing woman.  
Soon as they moved towards the boasting temple on the hill, the overseeing building that seemed fixed like a pinpoint, they were no longer interested in the townspeople. They were going to turn every stone they could find until they found their prize.  
None of them saw the blue box that sat in the side alley, with the words “police box” sitting across the border. It seemed so obvious a detail, being out of place, that the horsemen simply carried down the street without spotting the Doctor's revealing machine that was parked in the corner.  
Instead the stalking figures on the horses made their way to the temple that welcomed everyone, like a rising sun that remained on the hill. The thrusting windows were like sullen gulfs of darkness while the rooftop ricocheted with the drifting sunlight that ran over it. The blasting summer rippled with brightness behind the building. 

Chapter nine  
The Doctor let out a soft breath which was like a whoosh while her eyes followed the horsemen who took their departure. Her chest slightly rising and falling beneath the Asian styled robes she wore, flapped around her hourglass figure.  
Her face tightened into a seriousness that could break the world in half. The town became surrounded by fear while the heavy footfalls of horses grew into an intruding, threatening presence.  
She half-turned to her friend TJ with a triumphant glance. Never mind the cantankerous storm of horsemen making a rousing, crazy rap... what's important was that the men were leaving.  
TJ wondered why they didn't make any attack on the town when they were on the edge of their treats. In response, while reviewing what's happened, the Doctor suggested the horsemen didn't attack because of fear in being overwhelmed.  
She figured they would be back later.  
With his shouldered huddled with quiet strength, TJ felt uneasy about the whole thing. The Doctor lifted her hand to his arm to offer a comfort, a fiery excitement dipping into her eyes as she made a sweet smile.  
“Did you notice the hilt of his sword?” the Doctor said.  
“The men are not from the imperial guard. Otherwise the hilt of the weapons would have shown an imperial emblem,” TJ said.  
“They're bandits. This could be a start of something really interesting,” the Doctor said.  
“I hate it when there's a bad omen.”  
“At least you blend in better than I do. I'm probably the only Caucasian for many miles around.”  
“Pretend you're English.”  
“I've been doing that for years.”  
She glanced upwards to the waiting temple, a cradle of great architecture, which was now being currently visited by the four horsemen. Was one of them the horsemen of the Apocalypse? Their crowded forms moved with an asserting grace, indignant with anger. They moved like shadows in the distance.  
Sometimes evil men could teem together to act like bullies, always being more gusty when they were in numbers. The town seemed to cough with a nervous twitch while the men stuck to the outer rim of streets.  
Why would bandits go out of their way to disguise themselves as imperial as the law of the highest order? Why would they be impersonating an imperial soldier with punishment? Usually bandits would go where the money was.  
Something was really wrong. 

Chapter ten  
Night would come soon in less than an hour while the sifting sunlight still danced in the twilight gaze of skies. The swell of summer still fueled the day like a working furnace, grinding and pouring with a simmering brightness.  
You could feel the ravaging sunlight pillaging between trees, and the tempting beauty filled the forest with a harsh slap of dying afternoon. Pushing against the trees was the buttery-smooth sun that was going to rest soon.  
The Doctor wanted to wait it out before the horsemen would take their leave of the town. It wouldn't make sense to cross their paths again. They probably suspected her of something while she thought the same of them.  
It was better to investigate the temple in the sidelines, like cunning detectives looking for clues in the dark. Her sweeping figure strolled up the long stairway of stone like a goddess as she reached the top of the steps. The long flight of steps didn't bother her since she had a constitution of an ox. She was thankful she didn't wear high heels, opting instead for geta sandals for her travels.  
She saw the sight of the temple resting before her like a sleeping beast while her companion stayed at her side as a loyal friend. Her silk dress slipped around her curvy legs, feeling the distraction of wind.  
Her feet caught the last steps with a cautious approach while conquering the giant hill, climbing those steps with many short bursts of breaths. TJ looked back to see the straying route all the way down to the bottom of the hill where the town looked small.  
His Chinese features were round, strong, slightly different looking from the Japanese. But not by much. His face turned to view the temple once again which sought his attention.  
The Doctor turned to give one of her more famous expressions. She made a half-cocked expression that was like a sarcastic smile. She liked putting on airs like an actress setting the stage.  
The temple doors were wide and old, a wooden sleight of gigantism that reached a very great height. This place was a fortress of silent power, and it would welcome the people like an overlooking guard.  
Wasn't it a lovely place that could move oceans? This place seemed not so barbaric despite being built during a time when there was so much savagery. They're still living in a world filled with violence. The Doctor walked towards the doors and knocked on them.  
The rumbling echoes fell inside the temple like booming roars, and the noise flattened the walls like smashing hammers. She waited for someone to greet her at the doors, but it was a long way.  
There was no one coming to meet her. 

Chapter eleven  
While biting on her lower lip with an anxiety attack, turning her thoughts over, the Doctor decided to move forward. She lifted her hand to her neck to push her hair away, swaying around her face like loose curtains.  
She pushed against the door while her fingers rested against the flatness of age. It was like touching strong, powerful structure from the old days. Oh yes, she and this omiya had something in common: they were both old, very old.  
Though she might not look old, she was already hitting a thousand of earth years. Her face still possessed the youthful presence of a woman being in her thirties, and the strains of fatigue from traveling could be seen in her beloved eyes.  
“We'll need to make our own announcement,” the Doctor said.  
“Thought there would be someone here,” TJ said. “I'm surprised. I could have sworn I saw movements in the building.”  
“I'm sure you did.”  
The old doors creaked to the sides like a rusty murmur, and the fiery embers of the hallowed gulfs, like a giant crevice of secrets, greeted them with reddish walls and iconic marble floors. Such a sway of colors and soaking beauty covered every part of the temple, an amazement achievement of delicate nature.  
The winds blew through the doors with a thunder while her cloths painted against her thighs with a soft touch. This place was a world set apart from the common place towns or villages... this was a place built for lasting. The beauty of the orient filled this building with teasing features, captivating in kindness.  
The Doctor took off her shoes, knowing the customs of the east, leaving the wooden sandals at the doorway. So did TJ who also eased himself into out of the sandals to give a polite nod to the rituals.  
The tidal wave of candles lit up in the room with a flushing brightness, a breezing wail of light, and it felt like you were stepping into heaven. And there were the shadows collapsing on the walls like devilish dancers, wrongful intruders, making snide moves.  
The softness of the calm could be felt here, and the idea of idle beauty pressed more in this room with a thrusting enlightenment. What other reason to come here other than to give thanks and prayer to the gods?  
“There is someone here,” the Doctor muttered. 

Chapter twelve  
The Doctor saw an old man who stood at the far side of the room, and he carried a sword in his hands. He seemed to stand like a statue, his face lingering with caution as he watched the strangers.  
His hands tightened on the sword while TJ lifted his hand to his bow, not taking it out right away. They were teetering on the edge like stray dogs sniffing each other out. They were like tiny storms ready to clash. The Doctor nodded to the old man gently, remaining in her place.  
“I apologize for the intrusion,” the Doctor said. “I need to speak to you.”  
“I have no desire to speak with anymore strangers,” the old man said.  
“I assure you that we did not come unless there is imminent danger. I have reason to believe your temple will be attacked.”  
“You speak foolishness, woman,” the old man snarled. He turned to TJ: “You allow a woman to speak her mind like this?”  
TJ refrained from throwing a fit, or even showing a glimmer of anger. Instead, he kept himself calm as he looked for the right words. He felt like he had been whipped by the old man's lashing words. He nodded his head as he wasn't going to allow being frightened by this crabby man.  
“I owe her my life,” TJ said.  
“Bah!” the old man shouted.  
“There are men outside who means harm,” the Doctor continued. “And the temple here is the only place of significance in this town.”  
“They were merely passing through,” the old man said.  
“They are not to be trusted,” the Doctor said.  
“Neither are you.”  
“Do you have a name, sir?” the Doctor added.  
“What of it?”  
“Mine is the Doctor. I've come to help.”  
“Why would you want to know my name?” the old man said. “We won't be friends for very long.”  
“It helps me better if we are on a name basis.”  
“Sato Kamachi.”  
“Well, Kamachi, the men carry swords that are not of imperial design,” the Doctor said. “Don't you find that a little strange.”  
“It is very puzzling.”  
“Do you have an unexpected guest here?”  
“I do not know of such things,” Kamachi said.  
“Such things could lead to more trouble, and these men are not likely to give up so easily. They will come back.”  
“They're cowards,” the old man sneered.  
“I admire your courage, but you are one. They are many,” the Doctor countered.  
“Let them come!”  
“Allow us to help you. I come with good intent,” the Doctor said.  
“How do I know that you're not like the others?”  
“I've shown respect of your house, haven't I?”  
The fortress of walls surrounded them like slopes of fine woodwork from talented, gifted artists, and the faith of the building remained in the brimming aura that seeped into the inventive mayhem of details. There sat the large Buddha who exercised authority, always a gentle man without violence.  
Such lifestyles were taken under oath in the many lives of Asia, and the non-violent manner in which they lived was approved by the Doctor herself. She would have gotten along with the Buddha herself and made a mental note about visiting him in Tibet someday. Wouldn't be that big of a problem as she could just take the TARDIS and find her way to the lofty mountains where they resided. 

Chapter thirteen  
She turned to see TJ still standing the room, off to the side, and she gave him a brief wave of her hand, shooing him along. TJ figured what she had in mind, followed her signal. He nodded to her before moving on like a scurrying cat.  
He would be like the wanderer of the temple, losing himself in the welcoming halls filled with tricks and puzzles. The far wings of the building stretched to other rooms.  
TJ knew exactly where he would go, and made himself scarce from the current conversation.  
He was already getting bored of the banter between the two. He didn't have the kind of speech that those of F. Scott Fitzgerald or Pablo Picasso did. Nor did he have any snappy comebacks to make his side of the discussion interesting. So the cry of the building spoke to him more than the others did.  
It might take some time exploring.  
The Doctor could take her discussion into a deeper row now, peeling away the layers of small talk. Her thoughts swirled into a storm of more possibilities. She and the old man was going to have a game of matching wits. And she was going to need to distract him. TJ will do the leg work.  
The Doctor knelt before the old man, showing him thousand respects that was meant for elders. Her hands fell into a binding motion, fingers latticing together. Her hands were beautiful, thriving, while her hair hanged like robes of darkness.  
Her sudden display of actions took the old man by surprise, and she wanted for him to understand the meaning of her investigation. She studied so many cultures and spoke many languages, and made sure that the old man knew she was in authority this evening.  
“I do not wish for any dangers to come here,” the Doctor said. “This temple is very beautiful, lavishing. It would be a shame to see it damaged.”  
“Hmm!” Kamachi said.  
“They're looking for someone here.”  
“Who would that be?”  
“I think you know who.”  
“I am an old man. Why would I concern myself in such petty affairs?”  
“Because I believe you're a good man.”

Chapter fourteen  
It was a decent time as any to go explore.  
TJ hurried along the walls while the old man and the Doctor bickered like small children on the playground. They dragged on like a married couple, and there wasn't any room for him in the conversation.  
He found the hallway which led to the side of the temple while searching the old grounds. There grew a damp air that tore at his senses while he gripped the bow, pulling it aside to carry it in his hand. He chipped away the rest of the hallway with a guarded step.  
It reminded him of the days when he used to attend the royal palace, protecting his emperor from enemies. His memories turned to the ideal days of awe and wonder as he would go through the palace like a man given a special place.  
He also watched the emperor's daughter get married on those very grounds. His skills as an archer saved the emperor's life, and remained unmatched.  
In those days, TJ went by the name of Jao Takashi, but the Doctor shortened it to the nickname TJ as a joke. His life had been a world of shadows and rules before he met her. Oh yes, he remembered that beautiful woman who appeared to him like a spiritual messenger through the mists of time and space. And the Doctor saved him from being ambushed from the sides on the emperor's road.  
And she whisked him away from China to explore the universe.  
TJ did miss the fish and rice meals that raked his hunger, and liked the comfort of the beds that gave him good dreams. There was even one time when he almost married a pretty girl in his time period.  
He looked into his own mind still reeling into the past, but tried to focus on the temple around him. TJ would look into every possible hook and cranny of the building, and reached another guest room that was like any other. There were no windows here, but he felt a brush of wind touching him.  
Something strange here.  
He could see the floor and the wooden expanse of the walls wrapped around this room like a divine influence. The details of the orient interior, implicit with grand detail, could still be found here. It made him think of his very own China. 

Chapter fifteen  
He could hear his own footsteps guiding between the walls of the room, and he felt the hot hair barking at his ankles. It was an odd feeling which snapped him out of a lull. His fingers gripped the bow while he hunted.  
Swerving a few times, he planted his finger in his mouth before lifting it in the air. There was a breeze. Somehow it was an act of deduction that he learned from the Doctor. He also learned this from her: Always keep an open mind.  
TJ checked the room around him which felt like a cage to him. Something rattled against the walls outside like a rampant gust, and the discordant voice of silence grew broken from his slow intrusion.  
The temple grew wary of his presence because a chill went through his spine while his hair stood up at end. It was like his instincts leaped. Growing was the comfort of the sleeping shadows which filled this place, begging for him to move closer. TJ walked over to the floor as his feet swayed with small movement.  
A creak.  
And another.  
The floor sounded different here like it was not full, or perhaps lighter. Throwing him off slightly while his imagination left a door open for possibilities, he moved over the wooden planks like a ballad dancer.  
He moved back and forth, hearing the creaks again that whimpered with aches. He listened to the temple crying out with a hurtful groan where he pressed the weight of his heel on. No doubt he'll find only trouble here. Most likely. His eyes caught the floor beneath him as if it's trying to say something to him.  
What are you trying to look for?  
The creak, again.  
TJ set his bow down as he dropped to his knees, his fingers searching the grooves under him. The bulk of the wood looked like teeth to him, and he tried to pry his way between like a dentist looking for cavities.  
The dark seemed to stretch before him like it was covering something, a flaw, or a conclave. Was he seeing something?  
It might be a secret compartment that the other men, led by Imada Shinobu, missed out completely in their search. It was a lodge beneath that welcomed nothing, only an empty space. It seemed to fall away into the catacombs below beneath the temple itself.  
He began to claw at the floor with his fingers. 

Chapter sixteen  
What was down there?  
With a swipe of courage, TJ grabbed the bow as he jumped down to the abyss below. His feet hooked into the sprinkled gravel below which seemed smoothed out. A deep trail, and a tangle of air, welcomed him from the smatter of dark. It looked like a pocket of nothing.  
Still the archer narrowed his eyes as he tried to adjust himself to the sudden sneeze of darkness that curled around him. He could smell the dirt, the slight dampness that hovered over his senses. He could see the small inlet where a lively flicker chewed away the shadows like a new life.  
There was something here.  
TJ was used to doing things his own way, soldiering forward by himself. He should get someone to help back him, but wanted to check this out himself. His hand collapsed against the walls with the flat of the palm while he stepped forward, following the candle light.  
Now he stepped into the tiny crevice which was all stone before finding his way into another room, locked away into an unseen world. He stepped through the vertical breech of the wall that looked like a crack.  
And now this.  
His eyes combed the place as he felt a thrill of the discovery. Should he remain cautious as he dug further into this room? Yes.  
“I'm here to help you,” TJ said. “I don't mean you any harm.”  
There was still no answer.  
TJ took another step, his feet moving with sliding ease. He felt like he was walking through ashes, shuffling around him as the single candle light leaped with life. He held his bow in stance while serving around, looking at this room. There was a small blanket and a straw cot that laid against the floor. Next to it stood a small wooden table with the still glowing candle. A room, for sure. If you can call it a room.  
“I want to extend my hand in friendship,” TJ said. “I know you must be running away. I want to help.”  
He saw movements on the far side of the room in the sheet of darkness, a billowing, shifting stir. You could almost mistake it for a rat trying to cower in the corner. TJ reminded himself that he didn't want to scare the person off.  
It was someone huddled under the blanket, shoulders pressed against the wall. The brass crown of candle light couldn't chip away the darkness in the room. Though the shape of the person looked sad, wrapped in the knatty cloth to protect oneself from the dampness. The room coughed with more fickle brightness that glowered before him.  
His face twisted into pity as he could see the person clinging to the wall like a righteous lizard to a tree branch, seeing the cocoon of fear breaking out. The savage screech of nails ripped into the walls like a maelstrom.  
“It's all right,” TJ said. “I'm not going to hurt you.”  
The Chinese man leaned over as he wanted to show he was trying to help. His hand reached out while he felt sorry for the poor thing seeking refuge. It must be a child. The person was hiding from the bandits who turned heaven and hell apart to search for their escapee. Here the victim was right below the temple itself.  
He could see the stranded features under the hood, but couldn't make out the details. It was too dark to see the person's face, but could still see the shivering that punched through the weak body.  
His fingers reached out more as he tried to touch the person's shoulders, getting attention. There grew a howling sadness from the figure. His hand tightened on the shoulder, hoping for well-earned trust.  
“How dare you!” a voice cried.  
A knot of pain seared through him as he pulled back, a burning hurt bubbled from his hand as he felt the bleeding cut soaking with the lava spill. The strike of the knife dug into his hand, flashing with a silver edge. He could see who the person was.  
It was a girl. 

Part two  
Chapter seventeen  
The girl held back against the wall as her shadow crawled into a fierce height, casting over the dogmire of the filthy room. He scratched as his hand while seeing how the knife nearly cut off his finger in a surprise attack.  
He flipped his hand around to show how deep the cut was, holding his hand in the air while the river of red ran down his arm. It was a burning itch which annoyed him. The woman standing before him was very beautiful.  
TJ might cut her some slack. Maybe.  
He could see the slender, Asian features of her round face, and the glazing beautify of her eyes glistening like hidden warmth. And yet she looked frigid cold like a sliver dipped in rage. Her cheeks painted with sensual bliss while her lips cursed him a thousand deaths.  
While still soft and gentle looking, she held the knife in her clutching hand that suggested an eager battle. The flowing black hair framed her face like a nest, and the garden of sweetness turned into a gateway of snarls.  
Her mouth hissed like a frightened cat. Her features were waxy smothered by the candlelight in the blackest abyss that sat around her.  
He thought she was amazing, lovely, and wanted to tell her the word “tomadachi” which meant friend in Japanese. However, she was like a wounded animal ready to stab him again, lashing out with a cagey bite.  
TJ ignored the cut on his hand as he'll attend to it later. Right now, he needed to tame the savage beast before him that held the small knife that was ready to cut again.  
The gaping hurt of his hand cried out to him while he took another step towards her, his head tilting slightly. She held the knife tilting at him with a cruel smirk.  
Now the candle jumped with a flicker while it scored across the intruding steel of her knife, and she remained in her stance like a pouncing creature ready to slash.  
“Stay away from me!” the girl shouted.  
“I'm not one of them,” TJ said. “I'm not a bandit.”  
“You take me for a fool? I don't believe you!”  
She lunged forward again as her tempting beauty matched with the ferocity of diving metal. That fierce anger, the rush of hate hammering in her eyes, propelled her. The young girl was like a screeching cat scratching at you.  
Her hand leaped with the knife hoping to give him another jab. With the skill that more than countered the attack, TJ blocked the attacking knife with the wooden arch of his bow. The greeting of wood more than stopped the offending metal. The righteous struggle kept them at opposite sides in a conflict.  
TJ could see how frightened the girl was. Her face twitched with a helpless grind while the horror forced her to back off more. And he could see the scars of fears in her eyes begging for him to stop. 

Chapter eighteen  
In the main room of the temple, pressed in by the golden Buddha statue sitting like an idle presenter, the building felt like there were secrets to contend with. The place seemed to give a sigh of relief while the surroundings offer a crude validity.  
The lobby boasted with the candlelights, a thrilling spectacle. The temple remained stubborn to the feasting eyes outside, always stoic in its contemplated glory.  
The Doctor cleared her throat as she continued to debate with the old man. She could see that both the temple itself and the old man were not going to relent. They were hardened by the long lifetimes they led, and their souls matched with each other like perfect mates.  
So the Doctor could not get the old man to tell her anything. It was like talking to a brick wall. She tried a different tactic, using her trained, deductive mind to draw answers from the room she was in.  
This really had gone long enough.  
The old man stood on the floor with his legs in a stance, holding the sword in his hands while cradling it like a mother would a baby. The Doctor imagined the sword was made for him with the expressed intent of beating back unwanted guests in his house.  
She needed to take a different approach with him.  
“Perhaps you can see that whomever is hiding here is bringing great danger to one's self,” the Doctor said. “And bringing danger to us as well.”  
“That is most untrue,” Kamachi said. “I will ask you to leave the temple and not come back.”  
“Is that what you did to the others who were here? You sent them away too?”  
“What nonsense are you driving at?”  
“You're putting the whole town at risk by doing this,” the Doctor continued. “Those bandits will burn the entire town just to find who they're looking for.”  
“I don't know what you're talking about,” the old man said with a wary voice.  
“Do you want that on your head? The lives of many would be too great a cost. Let me help you.”  
“You are very sneaky with your words. You have a devil's tongue,” Kamachi said.  
“You do me injury by shouting that. I wish you would be able to see the outcome out your actions.”  
“Hmm!”  
“You're too stubborn to admit to your own mistakes.”  
“I have nothing to hide!” the old man said. “I will tell you what I told the other men. There is nothing of interest here.”  
“You're protecting someone out of the goodness of your heart,” the Doctor said.  
She kept changing the conversation, always bringing it back to the same topic. She moved around the small talk like a poet looking for the right words. The warm air pressed into their skins with force, this flickering of a hundred candles.  
The woman was like a blunt instrument with words, never backing down. Her strutting figure stood tall with great beauty, not so easily pushed down by others. Her robes dangled with a sheer dignity as the silk-cut cloth whirled around her like a gentle breeze.  
She might seem gentle, but she moved with a hurricane of moods. Her tactics suggested a military mind while her face grew cold with a stillness. She showed a feminine side, but there was something else about her that gave a high voltage of energy.  
Here was a woman would could take out several armies and not even break a sweat. Her face filled with a power that could move the cosmos.  
As the old man looked deep in her eyes and saw the path of sorrow she left behind, he could see she carried a lifetime of agony in her travels, so much pain. There was something beautiful about her arrogance. And yet the old man would not give in to her.  
He was the authority of this temple.  
She was not.  
“I have nothing to say to you,” Kamachi growled.  
“There comes a time when all of us need to make the right choice. You just need a little persuading.”  
“You invited yourself in. You're an annoyance.”  
“That wouldn't be the Japanese way, would it? Being rude?”  
“Nothing is here for you, or anyone else. I suggest that you move on,” Kamachi said.  
“What? Without trying some tea first?” the Doctor quipped.  
“The temple is empty save for myself. And you and your friend who have overstayed there welcome. By the way, where is your friend?”  
“Can you feign ignorance like this when there's so much at stake?” the Doctor said. “Those bandits are ruthless.”  
The arguing couple looked up to see someone stepping into the temple chambers, like tired shadows shifting along the walls. There was one frame of a person, and then another. The Doctor narrowed her eyes as her lips tightened into a fullness. Her features sank into a sullen mood.  
She could see her friend TJ walking towards her, and his hand wrangled with a nasty cut that threatened to drip on the floor. However, he forced his bleeding to stop with the pressure of his other hand. His bow hanged over his shoulder like a constant companion.  
With him, stepping out of the shadows, was indeed someone else.  
It was the girl.

Chapter nineteen  
The old man shook his head in shame as he looked shocked from what came out of the shadows. His twitching features fought between anger, confusion and hesitation. He was like a man trapped in a role of protecting his secrets, and now he failed in doing so.  
However, the Doctor blew out her breath with amazement flooding in her glare. Her teeth filed over her red lips as she thought about what to say. It became a delicate situation. Her hand lifted up to welcome the others, and saw that the archer was done with the treasure hunt. And he found his gold.  
Her eyes traveled from the the girl's face to TJ's, seeing that his hand soaked with a redness that smeared along the fingers. He didn't let it bother him much. The Doctor's face changed to ready concern for her friend.  
“No need to look shocked anymore,” the Doctor said to the old man.  
“What?” Kamachi said.  
“What happened?” the Doctor said.  
“A happy accident,” TJ confessed.  
“Have you been fighting?”  
“Hardly. It's just a slight misunderstanding.”  
“Your hand needs looking after,” the Doctor said.  
“I'll take care of it.”  
However, the girl looked more like a frightened animal cowering in the corner. Her eyes bounced back and forth in fear while she saw the world coming to an end. She looked a little rumpled like she crawled out of poverty.  
The old man glanced at the girl who stood in the chambers now the way a father offered a disapproving look. Her clothes were a sham. He settled down while still holding the Butterfly swords in his hands. Those swords would look like tiny tornadoes if he twirled them fast enough.  
His feet remained rooted to the floor while he witnessed the sudden drama of the room, not liking what he saw. The young girl simmered in her own anger, feelings raged with a childish fit. She wasn't used to crowds.  
Her face turned away like a cat wanting to slink away, but she was stuck here. With the others. She didn't care much for interacting with others, stewing in her own awkward emotions. Her hands fidgeted with her clothes.  
It was a moment of discomfort. 

Chapter twenty  
The old man held himself more as a solider. He stepped into a stance while his hands held the swords at his hips. His face looked like an eroded mountain being sloshed by constant rain. He stood with such abject force that could defy fire and ice.  
His hands wrapped around the hilts with fierceness while no sign of fatigue dragged in his features. The old man looked like lashing tigers, his seething sneer dared a whisper. He was forcing himself to break a code of silence. The old man looked like someone who could longer lift the skies.  
His voice creaked while he began to speak, his words spilling out like an ocean of hurt. His lips trembled as he broke from his proverbial wall of age. His head swam, his body ached.  
“I'm sorry, Doctor,” the old man said. “I had to lie to you.”  
“It's all right,” the Doctor replied. “You're forgiven.”  
“I swore to protect her from the outside forces. She sought sanctuary here.”  
“You did what you thought was right, and I believe you,” the Doctor said.  
“Now that the shelter she was in is broken in, what happens now?” Kamachi said.  
“The calvary has arrived,” the Doctor said.  
She seemed to break off from TJ with a snap, like a theatrical actress whirling, her hands moving in a windmill effect. She preferred to stand on her own when she needed to say something, her hair fell over her shoulders like loose jungle vines. And the softness of her hair suggested a dark storm. Her stalwart form stepped into the middle of the room.  
Despite the dark-drained walls, and the forest of candles lighting them, there were still shadows creeping in from the falling night. The young, Japanese girl looked like she was removed from a pile of refuse. Her hands were always swiping at the dirt clinging to her cloth, a constant habit.  
“I'm not supposed to be here,” the girl said.  
“I did my best to keep you hidden,” Kamachi said.  
“This should never have happened! There will be rumors. People in a small town like to talk.”  
“You're safe for the time being,” the Doctor said.  
“Don't mock me!” the young girl snapped.  
“I was only trying to help. No point in crying over spilled milk. Everything will be fine.”  
“Oh, you have an answer for everything?”  
“It's better than having no answer at all,” the Doctor quipped.  
TJ's face broke with an uncanny smirk that spread over his face, and he looked at the girl like he's smitten. His round features seemed to be teased by this recent incident, and he still rubbed his hand slightly as if a burning itch was there.  
“She's a feisty one,” TJ said about the young girl. “She's good with the knife. Quicker with her mouth.”  
“Be silent!” the girl shouted.  
The Doctor glared at the girl for a moment, studying her. Her face grew serious as she mulled over the girl's demeanor, and maybe the way she conducted herself. Maybe the Doctor was thinking about it too much.  
This woman walked like she was on thin ice, and her rising voice suggested she wasn't anyone to be taken lightly. This young girl moved around like a caged tiger. The Doctor would watch her a while before making any conclusions.  
The others looked tired, wary, like travelers who put too many miles on their feet. Their faces were wrung with disappointment while the fatigue worked into their bodies like a snake in a garden. They felt haggard while the growing night cluttered around the temple like a dark welcome.  
The town became a womb in the blackness which tore away at the ravaged peace. Soft darkness poured into the wailing curtains of the long night. 

Chapter twenty-one  
The old man pointed out to TJ where he could tend to his wound. It was a small wash basin in the next room where you could pour clean water and wash away his wound. Now the wretched beast of the forest sang with a furtive beat, a nothingness in the shadows.  
This restroom was clean, simple, and everything that TJ needed for the moment. He could shut the shojin if he wanted to.  
“You will find bandages as well,” Kamachi said to TJ.  
“Thank you,” the archer said.  
“You're not from around here.”  
“No, I came from an even stranger land.”  
TJ took to wrapping his hand with the white cloth after he washed the wound, and he went through the trouble of looking at his cut. It was a deep cleave from the knife edge that wailed as a slippery agony pressing into memory. He tried to mentally block out the pain as he worked on cleaning the scar.  
It was a pretty good cut that the woman left him. Most women would leave flowers or candy if they liked a man, but this one was ready to rip him a deep cut that left him still berating with hurt.  
It wasn't so bad that he needed stitches, but it as a pretty hefty memento that the girl left behind. TJ didn't even know what her name was.  
He'll need to remember not to use his hand for any excessive activities which may or may not include taking his bow and arrow into a fight. That was the one thing he relied on... his skills as a warrior.  
And the young girl took that from him with a simple, wretched cut. 

Chapter twenty-two  
The Doctor could see the young girl was not in a taking mood as the tension grew like a boiling pot of hot water here. It was a devilish blur of shadows that caught her attention now, and the girl seemed aware of the things around her. She darted her head around like she was looking for something in the dark.  
She glared at the others that might have made the others nervous, but the Doctor took it up as a challenge. None of the shadows or secret passages mattered to her now, but only the knotting of friendship that the Doctor felt was important. The Doctor knew she would be the diplomat of words.  
She needed to find the right words to begin the healing.  
“I think we could do with a little food,” the Doctor suggested, “I'm famished.”  
The young girl agreed with a reluctant nod.  
“I'll ask Kamachi if he has any bread and water,” the Doctor added. “Will that suffice?”  
There was a stirring of air that grew like a deep breath, and the peaceful start brought the two together in the same room where the small fire from the kama grew into a greater depth. The room was swept into a sneaking aroma that smelled of white rice.  
With a cheating glance, the Doctor checked the kama by lifting the lid with a small cloth. She took a peak inside before giving the young girl a smile, approving of what she saw in the medium-sized bowl.  
“Yes,” the young girl said. “That will be all right.”

Chapter twenty-three  
The wake of the forest brought a swell of darkness that poured between the staggered forms of trees. With an added slash, the wind pressed against the branches with an added sadness. The night smiled with a devil's grin, and the night waited with the addiction of small noise and guarded creaks.  
There jumped more shadows between the branches, leaping and searing with silence, and the dark roared with more movements. Some of the leaves fluttered with something jumped like a panther.  
To the uncaring eye, one would not notice such movements in the night. It became a chorus of footsteps and an orchestra of whispers. Shadows reached long and far, thrusting down further below before stopping on the branches again.  
What were they?  
Night twisted into a thousand creaks now as the trees ruffled, and the shadows jumped from one branch to another like a terrifying migration. This hailing storm of movements gripped the forest. They were like passengers of the air, taking to a great power.  
They approached the temple that sat on the far hill, and the hurricane of shadows moved forward with eager bliss. And a howl. Their faceless forms hid in the quagmire of night, keeping to the background of the stick trees and distant cackle of the dark.  
Only the bandits on the horses could be seen while marching ahead of the broken shadows. The horsemen's faces hanged in the glowing moonlight that seeped around them in a weak presence.  
And the ravages of the night clawed through the prying clouds of trees with shifting fingers, moving closer, a haunting theme that played against the forest. More silver blessings fell from the moon into the hunger dark.  
The forest became alive.  
“We do not want any loose endings,” Imada said.  
“If we make a mistake here,” Shun Shige said. “The town's people may weigh this against us. They may even rise up against us.”  
“Hardly.”  
“To openly attack their temple in a brazen heap would rally the town's people.”  
“They are fools soaked in superstition, nothing more. They will not threaten us.”  
“Then it has begun?” Shun said with a gleeful smile that reminded you of a sniveling cockroach rolling itself in dirt.  
“Oh yes, it has already begun. Let us be the night,” Imada said. “Do not lose the girl this time.”  
“The night will hide us.”  
“And so much more. We will become masters of the kingdom.”  
Shun Singe resembled a lizard with his thick eyebrows brimming above his slithering eyes, and the grotesque manner of his sneering, twisting face opened with a grin. He looked like a priest who lost all his promise to the gods, and enjoyed it. Perhaps he found something much better than pure faith? He sat on his horse while his pasty face lit with an inspiration. His eyes stirred with something crazy.  
The other man, Imada, turned to the trees to make a signal. He gestured with his hand with a sweeping motion like a stage actor giving a impertinent nod. Imada used his upright thumb to let the others know to leap and jump into soundless drifts. And now the trees shivered with more movements.  
Now the forest felt a breeze of footsteps, and a wail of taps that was like music in the air. The night swelled into terrible numbers, a haunting mayhem while skulking figures pushed passed the horsemen.  
There were so many of them.  
Imada's face promised madness as he moved slowly, signaling his second-in-coming to move with him. Now he played the role of the seducer of night, the mentor of predictions. His face grew heavy-laden with shadows while they bounded themselves to the night.  
“Unless we are careless, my friend, we will find our prize. We must attend to details,” Imada said.  
“Yes, my lord,” Shun said.  
The roughness of the night became nothing compared to the crawling presence of invading figures in the woods.  
The quiet footsteps, swooping with acrobats, continued to answer the silence of night around the temple, and the building remained the target on the hill. It was a monument for peace, but the bringers of darkness poured through the forest like a sudden, climbing savagery. 

Chapter twenty-four  
Inside the building, fixed with many candlelights to brighten the mood, the dining chambers shrugged with a gimmicky cheer. It was a simple, modern place consisting of a table, some pillows and a boiling kama to offer food for those who waited.  
The beauty of the building surrounded the four people who attended the table, sitting down at the edges while the softness of the air dipped with the candelights that lifted like gold specks. The old man became the caretaker for the food here, offering his guests a bite to eat. TJ continued to look at the strange girl.  
Why was there the most beautiful woman like this young woman? Her eyes suggested a cat-like hue, and her face ignited a passion of gentle wisdom which barked with a driving force that kept her going. She was someone who knew how to take care of herself, always looking around with caution.  
She lifted the chopsticks with ease, so graceful, while her fingers moved the wooden sticks like they were extensions of herself. The woman ate with a pleasing note, chewing on the rice and taking a small piece of the bread.  
it was a clanging sight of idle poise, giving the attendees a conference of food and small talk. The food was very good. The miso soup remained in the dobin with the sweetest aroma while the steamed rice looked inviting. Small plates were placed on the table.  
TJ tugged at the bandages on his hand which reminded him of the small encounter he had with the woman.  
He ignored the small, crude itch that soaked his wounded skin, and forced himself to get food while he glanced at the woman who acted like she was the only human being who mattered in existence. She didn't even bat an eye.  
There grew a wretched keening in their stomachs which could only be raked by eating, and they were lucky enough to have this much food. The young girl remained aloof while she stroked the food with the chopsticks, eating lightly.  
He still didn't know her name, but he planned to ask by the end of the evening. Now the four of them were eating well, chipping away the aches in their bellies with a proper sating. The bread was warm, and the miso soup made a delightful combo. Her fingers worked with a delicate approach while she ate a little rice at a time. The girl ate like a bird.  
TJ offered a gentle smile which was not reciprocated, but he had hoped she would notice him. If he did jumping jacks or did a trick with the bow and arrow, he didn't think she would still notice him. He looked at the bandaged hand as the first step of their meeting, following a path of getting acquainted.  
He joined the festivities by lifting the chopsticks, swaying into the movements of eating, sipping soup and drinking sake along with hearing the small banter at the table. The Doctor managed to use the chopsticks with great skill. Was there nothing the Doctor couldn't do on her travels?  
The young woman, however, felt hemmed in at the table feeling she should have the place to herself. Her dolly features framed by the soothing river of black hair that soared over the inviting curves of her neck.  
Her lips offered a sincere smear of redness, a holding bliss of beauty that dripped from the corners of her mouth.  
She gave a look from her eyes that suggested to the others, “Get out.” Her face grew transparent with mood while she lifted the chopsticks at her discretion.  
The Doctor watched her the whole while as the odd romance was blooming: one gave, the other did not receive. It became an interesting spectacle. She figured the career of love would be cut short here. The Doctor watched the girl more, following her wits of dignity. The young, Asian girl approached the table with a delicate thunder, her fingers worked the chopsticks with quiet manners. 

Chapter twenty-five  
Moreover, the woman remained inexpressive during the entire conversation, preferring to keep to herself. It was like the woman cut herself off from the rest of the world, and there was no reason for her to keep doing this. It made you either upset, scared or annoyed. Her tiny lips pursed every time she ate a bite as if struggling to get used to the taste.  
Her body language offered another side of the story that the Doctor was learning. Making a small effort to dig into her food, the Doctor kept an eye on the others knotted in a blossoming drama.  
Was the young woman praying? Was she distressed at being part of the tribe? She was like a ballad dancer with the chopsticks, her fingers moved like an artist. The Doctor cocked her head as she leaned into the discussion.  
“Have you traveled far?” Kamachi said.  
“You could say that,” the Doctor said.  
“I'm just the passenger,” TJ added. “She's the driver.”  
“What do you travel by?” Kamachi continued. “Horse? Boat?”  
“It's a blue box,” the Doctor answered.  
“I don't understand,” the old man said.  
“You can call it a magic box if you wish. It's like a moving closet.”  
“Your words do not make sense,” Kamachi said.  
“I set the coordinates, and it takes us to different places,” the Doctor explained.  
The old man turned to TJ with a deliberate stare, keeping the conversation at a beat. He dug into his food with chopsticks as well.  
“You let her do all the work?” the old man said to TJ.  
“Well, it isn't like that,” TJ stammered.  
“It's complicated,” the Doctor continued while adding a smile that would have made any man buckle with weakness.  
“Ah,” the old man said.  
“Yes, we traveled further than you can imagine.”  
“You are a mystery,” the old man said. “You go where trouble stirs. You are like someone putting a stick to the hornet’s nest. You invite trouble.”  
“That's a very tantalizing imagery,” the Doctor said. “And what of you?”  
“I'm merely a simple man who takes care of a temple.”  
“That's what I like about going to the orient. There's always a sense of culture,” the Doctor confessed.  
“I have another mystery I want to solve,” TJ said. “What is the young woman's name?”  
The old man collected himself as he gave a wary look at the woman, and he took a bite from the rice with the ease of a skilled worker.  
In the dobin, the miso soup remained heated with the sneering fire pouring beneath with a parrying tactic of cooking. He leaned over to the woman to give her a nod, including her in the discussion.  
Kamachi said, “We should eat as friends at the table.”  
“I don't like to mingle,” the young woman said.  
TJ barked with laughter when he heard her remark, and he felt more boisterous now than ever. He saw the other woman as a true fixture of a challenge, and chipped away at the ice lady who showed no interest in passing small talk. He was like a rude drunk at a party. He reached for the small chowan that was served with sake, a special treat for the guests.  
It was a house of delights. Including the girl.  
“You are like a cat in a cage,” TJ said. “I can't tell if you will take a bite or purr.”  
“I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself,” the young woman said.  
“I only wish to keep the conversation light,” TJ snarled.  
“I'm not interested in the subject matter.”  
“Then please tell me your name and I'll leave you alone.”  
“Yuki.”  
“That's a nice name.”  
“I thought you were going to go away.”  
“I lied.”  
Now the Doctor lifted her chopsticks as she tried to signal her friend with a nod, suggesting not to keep annoying the girl. Her hand waved slightly with the chopsticks, trying to deter the conversation as she got her friend's attention.  
The Chinese man mouthed the word, “What?”  
Such a talk came to an uncomfortable middle ground steered by the Doctor as she tried to change the topic, though the cold air fell between the walls like a sordid thing. Somehow there seemed to be a contest going on to see who was going on with pretending, hiding behind snapping moods and words.  
It was very dark outside while the forest seemed to move with a whisper. The trees whistled and they knotted together like hogging fiends in the night. Now the slippery dark wrapped around the temple like a soothing beast wanting to wake up. Out there the weathered forest soaked with a prowling darkness. 

Chapter twenty-six  
“You're a guest in the house,” the old man said to the young Yuki. “You should treat the other like guests too.”  
“I don't care for the company of others, you know that,” Yuki sneered.  
“That's the thanks you get for helping,” TJ said.  
“You made things worse by coming here. Your valor is futile.”  
“Do you have any more criticisms for us? Are you going to criticize the rice next?”  
“Please, I do not want voices to rise at the table,” Kamachi scowled. “It's supposed to be a place where we resolve our differences.”  
“Frankly, that's never going to happen,” Yuki said. “You're doing yourself more harm by digging yourselves a bigger hole by stumbling in.”  
“I resent that,” the Doctor said. “We weren't stumbling in.”  
As Doctor watched the small talk erupt into a tug-of-war of words, she thought it might become a shouting match soon. Were the people going to need muzzles to keep quiet?  
Or was the Doctor going to need to teach them table manners again? She noticed other things about Yuki that she couldn't help herself. The temple should be thought of as a church, but the others were turning it into a battlefield of matching wits. Helping herself to a bowl of miso soup, getting one of those spoons with the elongated base, something's bothered the Doctor in the back of her head.  
“Kochira kara desu ka?” the Doctor said. “Where are you from originally?”  
Yuki snapped her head up from her eating habits with all the prowess of a prancing tiger, and her eyes filled like the fires of Pompeii. Shadows and light skittered around her features, meeting in long suffocation of anger.  
She couldn't even make the small pleasures of eating without turning everything into a debate. She was like a woman possessed as the severe tension knotted inside her. Her pretty face became an unwelcome place while her eyes roared like a pool of thrusting knives.  
“How dare you ask me of such things!” Yuki said.  
“I was only asking a question to pass the time. You don't have to answer it.”  
The girl did not say anything more, and returned to eating her food.  
“Please forgive my intrusion,” the Doctor said. “I did ask politely. I couldn't help notice the ring on your hand.”  
“That's none of your business,” the girl sneered. “Please attend to your meals and make nothing more of this.”  
The old man swiveled his head as he listened to the wind. He resembled a stinging animal that lifted from the branches to hear the calling of approaching sound. His lips curled into a growling discomfort. He could feel something stir outside as his eyes combed the still windows.  
His hands set the chopsticks down on the table while the forest rippled with a soothing silence. He cocked his ears while leaning in, knowing that there was something catching his notice.  
“I hear something,” Kamachi said.  
“What?” TJ said. “I don't hear anything.”  
“You are young, and foolish. And preoccupied. Your youth is blinding your senses.”  
“I've been an emperor's guard for several years. I'm not exactly out of practice.”  
“Bah! Be quiet! There may be an attack from the outside.”  
“Wait... I hear it too,” TJ said.  
“Took you long enough.”  
“What is it?” the Doctor said.  
“Enemies,” the old man said. “Old enemies.”  
Kamachi swirled off the floor with the Butterfly swords in his hands, looking like a tornado of movements. He went to the window as he pointed to the dark forest before him, and he could see some of the rambling shapes like a dark sloth moving between branches in sheer haste. They were colliding with the dark with a Cyclopean wave, growing stronger.  
Now the smothering of darkness choked the night as the walls of blackness cluttered together like a message. The old man waited at the window, keeping to the side, while he witnessed the cheerless footfalls outside.  
The old man muttered a word, “There!”

Chapter twenty-seven  
TJ swept off from the table as he pulled the bow and arrow into the stance. He knew that he was going to hurt his hand using the bow, but he might still be able to use it as a melee weapon in close quarters.  
He could feel the heavy pain in his hand, but searched to ignore such petty things. As he watched the heavy crease dig into the folds of the forests, despite everything, he grabbed an arrow to place into the niche.  
And he pulled on the string, keeping the arrow straight and steady. TJ caught the darkness with his eyes, keeping it on hold. He watched the old man give him a nod, and his burning eyes welcomed the diversion. They needed to see.  
TJ released the arrow with his hand while hearing the swooping arrow darting through the night to hit the target. Though the young man felt his hand cramped by doing so, earning an award of pain by using the bow. The old man watched with grim satisfaction while a dark figure fell away from the tree branch. The dead weight hit the ground. Now the night gave a groan.  
Ninja.  
And many of them.  
“There's your proof,” Kamachi said.  
“This is not good!” Yuki said.  
The darkness moved like a thunder roar, and the trees shuddered with a thousand leaps. It looked like a storm of shadows pouring through the restless night, feeding the engines of midnight with their eager intent.  
The old man turned to the Doctor, his voice carried with an authority as he nodded to her. His eyes showed that he seemed to trust the Doctor now more than ever even though they had their differences.  
“I need you to take Yuki with you and hide,” the old man said.  
“You couldn't possibly hold off this many in numbers,” the Doctor replied.  
“You need a distraction. I'm going to give you one.”  
“You'll be killed.”  
“Most likely.”  
The temple on the hill was being swarmed by many in darkness, and and whooshing blackness darted halfway between the trees before rushing towards the building like human darts. They moved like living juggernauts while peeling away the dark, and their swords hissed in refined glory as the men cleared their weapons from the scabbards.  
You could hear the footsteps pouring into the night, and they began to climb the walls like spiders. Their legs and arms outstretched while the shifting figures eased their way with twisting and turning.  
TJ poked through the window before shooting another arrow with a downward turn, knocking off another attacker who wailed through the air before hitting the ground like a sloshed burden. TJ slipped into a whirlwind as he took to one arrow after another.  
His hand creased with pain as he took the shooting as far as he could, but didn't think he could do a few more. His features cringed in knotted hurt while he strained to chip away the first wave of attackers.  
The ninja moved like tears through the dark, a sweeping ocean of madness. They were invaders of a single home.  
Now the old man raised the Butterfly swords to meet his enemies. 

Chapter twenty-eight  
The entire building coarse with rage as it became choked by the intrusion of darkness. With rabid savagery, the army of shadows poured over the walls and the thunder of horror stroked the peaceful stillness. Now the place became of the epicenter of a storm.  
It was like a dark blizzard, the wolves of hell coming from the darkness. They followed with passion the active routes, and they tended to the temple like unwelcome guests in a sullen fury.  
TJ could see the fueling darkness come to the windows like a sheer force. And they did indeed sway in numbers like a hallowed wind. Their faces hanged with deadly hate and TJ pulled one more arrow that caught one ninja in the window frame, knocking him back into the folly of his misfortune. And yet two more replaced the fallen.  
It wasn't going to do him any good hurting his hand while pressing the arrows in the niche, and pulling the string like a musician playing the harp. His motions grew frail against the blood-soaked thunder of men who kept coming.  
One of his arrows reached another target hitting the ninja in the chest, a whooshing sound of death claimed another soul. TJ didn't like doing that, but his fingers worked over the pain while he tried to stop another ninja by sword.  
But he blocked the attack with his bow, putting the ninja off with a volley of outbursts. He used the bow like a sword itself, but the wooden frame was chipped away by the slugging metal edges. However, the Doctor was seen rotating and switching her sonic screwdriver, her thumb pressing a button.  
And it emanated a high-pitched wail at the attacking ninja who was about to deliver the fatal blow to TJ. The ninja held his hands to his ears like he received an earthquake of a headache.  
Gave TJ a few moments to parry the attack and grab one of the arrows from his back sling to stab the ninja with a blunt blow.  
The sudden whirlwind move sent the ninja to the floor, falling to join his friends in a bloodshed.  
The old man did not spare anyone his massive chain of attacks while moving like a hurricane cutting down several ninjas. His swirling hands, and jittery feet, felled more dark figures, dashing the ninja in his slinging motions.  
His hands parried and stabbed one of the attacking ninjas who fell to the floor, but the old man still had a maelstrom of ninjas to deal with. His face tightened into a growl. His eyes brazened with war-like triumphant cry.  
“You. Must. Go!” Kamachi shouted to the others.  
“I'm not leaving you here, old man!” TJ shouted.  
“Your concern is with the the young woman.”  
“You can't fight off an entire army!”  
“I'm not so old, and you should not waste time!”  
The two men, young and old, became the eye of the storm as their swerving motions added to the clanking of metal. The roaring slivers, coupled with the fierce attackers, tore with a savage lust for violence. How do you stop such superior hunters who moved like monsters in the night?  
They blackened out the windows as they poured in with nimble approach, and their growing numbers barked through the room like rabid dogs. Their heads lifted like serpents ready to spread their poison.  
The wheeling and sneering shapes moved towards the residents of the temple, now circled with the flames of savagery. They tore into the building like unwelcome guests, their movements like persuading whispers. Some of the ninjas revealed nun-chucks, swords and sari weapons.  
The Doctor shouted to her friends, “Shut your eyes now!”  
“What for?” the old man cried.  
“It'll give you a fighting chance!”  
The Doctor pressed her thumb on the sonic screwdriver in her hand, and the thrashing brightness flashed enough to blind the ninjas for a few good seconds. All the while the Doctor turned away from the backlash of light that engulfed the attackers.  
The ninjas yelled out when the rippling light got into their eyes, causing them to falter, throwing them into a wry confusion. They groped through the air while some covered their eyes from the blindness.  
“Let's go!” the Doctor shouted.  
She and Yuki moved through the room, hurrying towards the corridor while running with TJ. They escaped the black, masked frames of their attackers, hoping to regain their senses. However, it was not before the old man grinned as he cut down as many as he could.  
And so the Doctor and her companion would take the young girl through the tongues of shadows before finding their way into the mayhem of the temple.  
One of the ninjas with the red sasha cried out to the young girl: “You will come with the shadows of doom.”  
“Never!” Yuki shouted.  
The ninja tried to grab at the air, but his seething movements, and random groping, did not get him any closer. His name was Winter's Eye, gaining his nickname for his detail-minded approach in his fights.  
He was like the offspring of something dangerous and hellish. There was vicious intent in his voice, but the others left him stranded in the temple chambers.  
“Woman!” Winter's Eye shouted.  
However, no one was there to answer him. Only the cheating whirls of cuts from the old man's sword gutted many more of his sworn enemy.  
And the red ninja's eyes was gaining sight again, giving him another chance to find the girl he sought. The night was feasting on troubled souls. 

Part Three  
Chapter twenty-nine  
“I know the way out of here,” Yuki said.  
She moved through the hallway while the Doctor and TJ followed at her heels, and they hurried down the eastward path. They escaped the blaze of violence behind them, but knew they would have to find a way to stay one step ahead.  
The temple became a splash of violence all around them, and the sneaking darkness revolved around them like minions of hell. You could hear the hurried clashes of swords in the background, and the miles of savage waste in the crimes of war.  
“Come with me if you want to live,” Yuki said.  
The Doctor signaled for TJ to come along, and they found themselves dropping into the catacombs through the floor, and their feet glazed over the dirt paths. TJ made every effort to cover his tracks while catching up with the women who moved through the gulf of darkness that stretched like fiendish tunnels.  
They moved through the herd of shadows, avoiding the dance of the dead which was being enacted above them. The Doctor turned to the young woman as they walked ahead, their silent figures cutting into the catacombs ahead. They were lucky not to run into any more assassins here.  
“I noticed the ninja's knife was not poisoned,” the Doctor mentioned. “The ninja want you alive.”  
“Now is not the time to make obtuse observations,” Yuki said.  
Now the girl launched into a parting route, taking the way to the left. She moved fast now, picking up the pace, and did not care if the others lost themselves in the maze. This girl would not care for any pleas made to her, only that she grabbed the chance to escape. She did not want the old man's diversion to be in vein.  
The nightmare of shadows grew like a sickness. Their numbers spiraled into a filthy terror that covered the whole of the temple.  
“Are you sure you know where you're going?” TJ said.  
“I was thinking the same thing, “ the Doctor added.  
“Don't get all teary-eyed,” the young girl said. “I'll get you through this.”  
TJ could say nothing more as he followed the others, his willing form moved with defying force. The tunnels grew like gullets running at long distances. He worked between the walls of blackness as the damp air grew like a knot.  
His soul felt like it was dragging. His thoughts turned to the old man they left behind in the final assault where his towering figure tore up a storm with the ninja. He felt bad for leaving Kamachi behind.  
He remembered the old man's last line while he called all his strength to defend himself: “You'll have to get through me, you pack of hounds!”  
That old man was facing the sordid battle himself and was hopelessly outnumbered. He was as old as Japan itself. Who could blame TJ for feeling disloyal in the last moments? Yet the old man sated himself in his private joy of taking as many ninja as he could.  
TJ hurried after the Doctor and the young girl as they took to the next tunnel that detoured to another, banking on the acrylic darkness that throbbed around them. The young girl was going through the underground tunnels by memory.  
Somewhere above, in the temple, the savage cloud of cuts were being met with more clashing metal.  
Doubling his efforts, TJ caught up with the women as he moved with a windswept pace, and he felt shamed that the temple would become a graffiti of death. He could see the outline of the Doctor ahead of him.  
Her hair bouncing around her neck with a softness which was always attractive as a passing storm. He could see the Doctor signaling for him to hurry up after seeing the glint of madness in her pretty eyes.  
She made the same look that TJ knew by now after traveling with her to many places, many planets. It was an expression of exasperation as if she was getting slightly annoyed, her eyes rolling. She resembled a teacher who was getting tired of giving lessons to her students, so she decided to leave after throwing in the towel.  
They were getting near the exit now. 

Chapter thirty  
There grew the shudder of moonlight glowing through the mouth of the tunnel, and the dark lifted with a tired sigh. Darkness stretched like a huge canvas that rippled around the world like a terrible enslaving, ruling over the land with fear.  
The Doctor stepped alongside the girl now, maintaining a steady pace. The young girl offered a knife to the Doctor, possibly for protection. She did not have to say anything, only nod to the Doctor with an understood offer.  
“Why don't you keep the knife?” Yuki said. “I have another.”  
“I don't like violence,” the Doctor shook her head.  
“You seem to be used to it.”  
“Unfortunately.”  
“Your eyes show me a long road through misery. You seem to know war.”  
“That's true enough, but I still won't take the knife. Why don't you give it to TJ?”  
Yuki pressed forward as her hand, looking like alabaster marble in the seeping glow, pressed a rock which made a stone wall move in front of her. It was a giant slab that whirled with a delivering task of allowing them into safety.  
The thundering exit bellowed in front of them while the score of forest held in view before them. It was like seeing another part of the world where the crevice of the moon glared with a silver waning, and the clambering tunnel reached its end through a side hill. This inky route, with its damping embers, showed a foul age of hanging roots.  
“Please follow me if you want to live,” Yuki said. “But know that I won't hesitate to kill you if you show the slightest hint of treachery.”  
“You're such a sensitive type,” TJ said.  
“Remember that.”  
“We're here to help. That's been proven enough.”  
“I still do not trust you fully,” Yuki snarled.  
“The old man did,” TJ said.  
“He can be a nostalgic fool at times.”  
“We should have never left him behind. It was wrong.”  
“We can't afford you to be grow soft at a time like this,” Yuki said. “It's your fault that we left the old man in such a dark place.”  
“I think it's better if we took this matter elsewhere,” the Doctor said in a final note.  
The young girl nodded to the Doctor in agreement as they moved away from the cavern that seethed with a barking, foetid sneer. It was engulfed in the seeping dampness that grew layered with the richness of nothing. This booming dark did give them a chance for an escape. It made the world blind.  
And here the forest heaved with a soaring presence, and the night wore thick over the miles of ripping landscape. Behind them, slamming shut, the cavern roared once more as it shut away like rock-shewn teeth to close the exit. 

Chapter thirty-one  
Somehow TJ could not help feel being ushered into leaving behind someone who was a good soldier. Though the young girl who led the way seemed disrespectful in her tone, egging him on with fast steps away from the yawning cave.  
She seemed to step on her high pedestal to give her speech about who was more important than others. Maybe a few were more expendable to a greater cause. How could you like a woman like this?  
TJ remembered a time in China when he defended his king from an ambush on the road, and one of brothers were felled in battle. He was the one of two brothers he had, an older sibling. And yet he was whisked away as easy like an autumn leaf on a dying day.  
He remembered his brother's last words in battle as he held him in his arms, hearing about how his brother had yet to fall in love with a pretty Chinese girl. Never fulfilling his needs to have a family, instead putting himself in harm's way for his emperor.  
No doubt TJ missed his brother very much, giving him incentive for fighting a war like a driven man.  
His parents remained reclusive in the hills of the countryside, never talking to him again after the death of his brother. Would they ever forgive him?  
The snaking darkness of night grew into darker terrain once the threesome moved towards the forest which cluttered around them in tight spaces. The barbarism of war seemed to be an answer to everything here.  
Now the petty blackness swamped the area while keeping the languished hue of the dark smothering the grounds. You could barely hear the footsteps of three, and the forest offered them a music to salvation.  
“The catacombs were built ages ago to help refugees escape in times of cruel law,” Yuki said.  
“Good to know your history,” TJ said.  
“There is nothing humorous about the catacombs.”  
“I wasn't being funny.”  
The Doctor added a line to the conversation, hoping to steer the others from an angry diatribe. Her voice was soft as a whisper.  
“I'd use my sonic screwdriver to give us light, but that would give us away in the night.”  
“What is that you're saying?” Yuki said.  
“It's a mechanical device that's gotten me out of some situations before.”  
“Are you a magician like Kamachi said?”  
“Hardly,” the Doctor whispered in the night.  
“That is good not to dabble in such things in magic.”  
“Mere trickery, nothing more,” the Doctor added.  
“This way, if you value your lives,” Yuki said.  
“You make us feel really safe,” the Doctor said with sarcasm.  
“I'll keep you covered should anything happen,” TJ said.  
“There's bound to be a few guards left in the forest. We'll need to get passed them,” Yuki said.  
“Then we'll do our best to avoid them,” the Doctor added.  
They reached the forest as the small sharks of midnight swam around the skies painting more darkness. The young woman pushed through the patches of blackness while keeping to a small path that lingered through the woods. It seemed to be an answer through the outside forests. Why did she know so much about these parts? A childhood playing grounds at one time, perhaps?  
The girl pushed through the night as she braced herself for the slab of darkness that wrapped around her, and her feet approached the tree-laden country before her, giving away to the volley of open spaces that poured around them. 

Chapter thirty-two  
They could see the bank of forest cutting across in a great stir, and the wild burying of midnight fell between the branches like a magnificent wave of darkness. They trudged between the trees with invading footsteps.  
They reached a small path that changed into a myriad of rooted tracks while the noted forest sat around in a clustered wake. The young girl continued to move forward, deeper into the latticed tumbles and woods. Her cutting form stepped more into the foliage that collected around her like layers.  
So far, they did not meet any ninja on the way here and the enemies may have melted into the dark without bothering the forest. This empty place swallowed the forest with a sweeping gesture of crude blackness while the all-enshrouding heaps goaded the distance with their presence. The night sneered like a dancing imp, and the the young girl stepped in between the choked trees that stood rooted like chopsticks left on their own. She found herself another patch of trees.  
“Wait a moment,” the Doctor said.  
“We do not have time to lose,” Yuki said.  
“We'll need to cover ourselves with mud and dirt. It'll cover our tracks.”  
“Do you mean to suggest...” Yuki barked in a whisper.  
“Yes, I do,” the Doctor said.  
“That is intolerable to put myself on the ground like that.”  
“The scent will be covered, and it'll throw off our enemies,” the Doctor added.  
“Well played, Doctor, you'd make a good general,” TJ said.  
“I was several times.”  
“This is insufferable!” Yuki cried out.  
“Do it!” the Doctor growled in a commanding tone.  
The girl grew livid at the idea, her annoyance grew, and she eyed the others with a hellish glance that could break the world in half. She saw the others slipping the dirt on, covering themselves with the grass. Her face twisted into a revolting scene as she took a clamp of dirt in her hand and looked at it like it was a sickness.  
Yuki began to wipe her lovely arm with the mud, smearing across while it made her feel dirty. Her hands moved in slight gestures, motions, and she put more sloshing filth on herself. TJ did the same, his fingers gritted with dirt in between.  
The ground felt awful, sticky to her. It felt like she rolled herself up in the dirt like a pig in a blanket. Her hand steeped into the dirt while the moist element of the ground slipped on her skin like skid marks. 

Chapter thirty-three  
Yuki looked unhappy the whole time being here, and wished she was somewhere else. Her eyes gave that away, having no sense of wonder. Her face twisted into a sad pout like a child throwing a fit.  
Around her the dark gawked at her like a peeping tom, and the wages of darkness slipped around her like a wreckage of branches outlined in the abyss. She felt the more pressing hand of darkness sweeping above her, laughing at her.  
She could see TJ joined her in some ritual as he was rubbing his own arms, and face, covering himself with the tactics of savages. Grass, dirt, mud, anything, looking more than ready to fly into the face of battle itself.  
His stocky form covered with the stamping of dirt, his face glowered like he just crawled out of the ground.  
Yuki showed her dislike for the passing chore, and hated the idea of being smeared with dirt. Now they were blending into the world of darkness around them.  
Her eyes glared over at the Doctor as she searched the grounds before her, and the woman revealed a majestic presence used to dealing with many crisis. She saw that the Doctor stood with an arrogance of royalty, a woman who walked through the worlds like a daring noble. How could this be? This unknown traveler seemed to understand everything around her.  
The Doctor began the mundane chore of swiping more dirt on herself, throwing chumps of filth on her arms and face. She waited for a moment, dropping into small actions of a peasant farmer planting her hands in the dirt. Her pretty, taunting features grew smudged with the forest.  
Her head leaned slightly as she loitered in the wind, feeling the breeze that soaked her hair that hanged like supple curtains. There grew an awareness about her that suggested she didn't care about her own appearance.  
Yuki felt offended by the whole task as she felt worse than a kid playing in the mud. Her glances bounced between the strangers, wondering how long this nonsense was going to last. Her eyes glazed with hatred.  
Yuki asked in a commanding way: “Where do you come from?”  
“I doubt you've heard of it,” the Doctor said.  
“I'm well-traveled.”  
“Oh, in that case, it's a world called Gallery. Very far away.”  
“Your words do not make sense to me.”  
“Where I come from, my people are not human.”  
The young girl heard the odd answer, but felt dissatisfied from the small talk. Wasn't sure if she wasn't being fooled, being deceived. She didn't like being put in the corner while the others carried all the answers. She liked being in control.  
The forest around them was dark as the graveyard, and the broken thighs of many trees curled upwards like shooting bamboo stems. She failed to see anything satisfactory in this entire conversation, or the chore of putting mud on one's self. Yuki felt like an outsider instead of leading the other two. The forest swayed with a darkness that clambered over them, and the seething belly of the night dismissed them.  
She turned to TJ: “What does she mean by that? Not being human?”  
“Never mind that,” TJ said. “It's a long story.”  
“She must be some kind of demon. Is she the fire of Jigoku itself?”  
“If she was, she would have burned us already. She's a friend who've come to help.”  
“I don't trust her. Or you.”  
TJ said, “I'm as real as you are, so you can trust me. The Doctor is my friend, and you can trust her too. I'm not hiding anything.”  
“Foreign devils,” Yuki muttered. “Most likely.”  
The Doctor ignored her remark as she looked ahead, and turned as her hair whipped around her neck like a tossed towel.  
“We need to move northward,” the Doctor said. “That might be the safest route.”  
“No!” Yuki whispered loudly. “We have to take the eastern route.”  
“That'll take us passed the enemy. It's dangerous territory,” the Doctor pointed out.  
“My home is that way. What survives of it.”  
“All right,” the Doctor said as she made a serious face. Her emotions wrestled with the intellectual side of her, and she resorted to the logic of the situation.  
The Doctor made a half turn, looking a little annoyed. She took a few steps towards the thick batch of woods, her eyes glaring out into the creeping corpse that was the dark forest. She wore smudges of dirt that made her look part of the surroundings, but nothing hid the hint of anger that blazed across her face.  
It was like watching a volcanic eruption ready to blast like a bestial nature, but she held back the rage with all the strength she could summon. If you were anywhere near the Doctor, you could feel her spearheading glare.  
“You are a very foolish girl,” the Doctor said. “But lead the way.”  
Now Yuki grew easy with everything in her control, knowing that she could command those around her with the cutting score of her voice. The Doctor was either very tired or did not care to fence words with the other girl.  
So she left the young girl to lead the way, felt the hallowed split of the forest giving away to the pools of darkness that stuck together like crushed grassy knolls. This part of the land grew so dark like a thorned gift of horrible nature.  
The trees leaned together like frightened children under the moon's weak glaze while the skies furrowed with a hanging threat. Outside the roar of storm's violence that plagued the land, the law of men moved like shadows inside the dark like awful spirits.  
The forest seemed to be crying.

Chapter thirty-four  
“Where is she?”  
His voice was crusty, lingering with menace, sounding like crushed gravel as he spoke the words. Imada Shinobu made the temple room shudder as he strolled through it, and his hands resembled long needles as he fixed them around the sword hilt.  
It was a question that was asked several times by him, but each time met with abrasive silence. The low waning of candles fluttered like wiggling souls in a broken heaven as the broken brightness wrapped around the room.  
His words hanged like a harbinger's omen. His tongue was like a snakes's when he spoke, his snarling lips cut like a pit of poison. The old man did nothing except fend off his interrogator who pressed against him with a sharp anger.  
The old man was surprised that he was still alive considering the late gambit of finding the escaped girl. He watched the horseman pace around in the temple room, a sloth like being with devious thoughts in the back of his head. Imada Shinobu lifted his sword to Kamachi's throat with a swirling motion.  
And he got to within an inch of cutting the man's throat, but the old man didn't recoil. Both were like opposite ends of the arrogance, and they tried to outmatch each other with small threats.  
Though Kamachi could feel the pinprick of the sword that nearly gripped his lifeline, he watched the awful man hold the sword on a death's thread.  
And the old man gave the same answer even though he was book-ended by two ninjas at his sides.  
“Where is she?” Imada said.  
“I don't know,” Kamachi snarled.  
The horseman stood like a radiant tower, his eyes feasting with glee. His presence whirled with the extravagance of a man wanting to tear the temple apart. And yet he held himself back.  
His grin was like a crooked, broken eggshell. His face twisted into a shadow of terror, hoping to spread a disease of fear to the old man. Imada made a few sharp, quick steps with the the sword, swinging it around again towards the old man's neck.  
What would he do now?  
The more time spent here meant a bigger time frame for the escapees to get away from here. And they've been gone for a long while. Now the horseman's face glowered with anger as he stopped pacing.  
His eyes seemed to bulge out like they were getting too big for his head, and were rolling into the crevice of the skull that made a sickening feature. His anger boiled in his face like an acid spill while he vented like a monster on a bad day.  
He'd like to do something mean-spirited to Kamachi, but the old man would probably welcomed it. The horseman needed to bait him, perhaps drag the answer from him unknowingly. Imada stayed on the path of his focus.  
“She went with the foreigners,” Imada said. “Was she kidnapped by them?”  
“Why don't you ask her?” Kamachi said.  
“Were they bounty hunters?”  
The old man just laughed.  
“I need to know where she's gone,” Imada said.  
“That is beyond my knowledge,” the old man said.  
“Is it anything to do with the blue box in the village?”  
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” the old man growled.  
“Some sort of magic box? No?”  
“I'm not drawn to fairy tales...”  
“Why is it that no one is able to capture a young girl who has no weapons?” Imada shouted.  
“It's best not to get on his bad side,” Shun said as he sneaked around the old man like a slithering ferret, his lips trembled slightly as he spoke. It was as if he was fighting his own personalities inside him.  
“Get away from me, you monkey,” Kamachi sneered at him.  
The old man could not wrench away from the crazy man's hand, his elongated fingers clasped around his shoulders like icy glaciers. There were many ninja who settled like crows in the room, and they flocked into a spread of darkness roaming as creepy black roses. The horseman could ask the same question over and over again... a hundred times.  
And yet he would not be closer to the answer. 

Chapter thirty-five  
The other man's eyes glazed with all the fires of a sneering, and he looked like a box of tigers clawing. His mind was a cesspool of wretched animals biting and scratching. He swooped down to his friend's side like a hunting hawk.  
His neck creased as it was very long, like a small giraffe, and he looked over his friend's shoulder with a knowing glance. Shun Shige mulled over his current debacle as he craned his neck further, almost otherworldly.  
“Give me two minutes with him,” Shun said. “I'll get what you need to know.”  
“That will not be necessary,” Imada said.  
“Ah, use the thumb screws which always brings wonder. It'll make him talk.”  
“That's enough.”  
“Oh, poor baby in a bad mood today?”  
“I don't like messes.”  
“You got a weak stomach.”  
“I don't relish in other's misfortunes as you do.”  
He walked defiantly at the old man, hoping the sudden movements would jar him out of his idle stance. Maybe it'll spook the old man. Nothing seemed to break him down as he sat like a fortress of strength, his face tightened into a sturdy sight.  
The old man Kamachi was like a steely knight warding off the evil spirits that were the bandits, picking at him. He was not so frightened to give in, and his frame would not break down to sodden cries. He was a tough, old bird. Imada hated the thought that he might be weaker of the two here.  
“Where is she?” Imada asked again.  
And he was met with ignorance, knowing that he would not be able to grope or grasp with answers when it came to the old man. He might as well be telling a cat how to do a trick or two.  
Imada nodded to the one ninja who tried to nab the young girl Yuki at the last moments of the raid, but he missed her on account of being fended off by the old man.  
The ninja stepped up to his leader like a loyal shadow, dropping to one knee.  
He wore a black uniform except for the red sasha that hanged with a drifting presence. He wouldn't look directly at his master out of respect, and remained in his spot without a distant crackle. It would be impolite to stare back at his master.  
So he kept his head bowed.  
Imada Shinobu paid a generous amount of money to the ninja to work for him, and their numbers were like a feast of crows ready to tackle the enemy when need be. He found this particular ninja Winter's Eye when he visited the back alleys of Osaka, and tempted the man with money to win him over.  
Now Imada turned to the bowing ninja, seeing that he was covered with black cloth from head to toe with the exception of the small cutaway for his beaming eyes. And the red sasha that became his calling card. Winter's Eye stayed rooted like a corruption.  
“Where are they?” Imada said.  
“Master, we looked in the temple, but they are not here,” Winter's Eye said. “It is as if they have vanished.”  
“They are not ghosts.”  
“The walls or floors have mouths because they were swallowed away.”  
“Do you think there's a trap door in the building?”  
“Yes, my lord.”  
“Which direction do you think they went?” Imada said.  
“They went eastward, master,” Winter's Eye replied.  
“And you did not follow them?”  
“I lost them.”  
Imada circled around in the middle of the room, looking like a wingless vulture who thought over the next thing to do with a heavy heart. His face lifted once to look at the blackest night that waited for them outside.  
“You know what happens next, do you?” Imada said.  
“Yes, m'lord, I understand.”  
Imada raised the sword with a windmill effect, with so much ease, and swiped with a cutting motion that tore through the air. The metal swerved with an icy chill, and something clattered on the floor.  
There was a bloody stain on the floor where the others watched with idle interest. Even the old man watched with passing disgust, his face overpowered being disturbed. Perhaps Kamachi was dealing with a madman here?  
Now the horseman stepped around the blotch of red on the floor as he craned his neck at the others, seeing the display of actions would deter the others. He lifted the sword as he wiped the sharp blade with a white cloth, cleaning it.  
“That is the price of error,” Imada said to the other ninja. “I will accept no more failures.”  
The ninja flocked like feathered fiends, their moving shapes huddled together to ready themselves for the next game. They moved like shadows in the night, and they obeyed if the money was good.  
Their faces hanged like darkness as their feet made the sound of dull patter. They hurried through the windows, leaping out like a persuading cloud of death. Their chatting footsteps remain quiet as they took to the night with equal deliverance.  
Seeing that the ninja was restless, Imada lifted the sword as he became a sordid terrain of expressions. There was a feeling of anger washing over him as he bellowed like a general in an army, hoping to turn defeat into a win.  
“Comb the forest,” he shouted. “Comb through every last bit of the woods until you can find them! Do it! Burn the trees if you have to!”  
The ninja acknowledged him as they fluttered outward, sweeping over the floor in a hurricane of darkness. And now the woods would be raped by these invaders, swooping and creaking between the branches. Their stoic beings launching into a searching campaign.  
The night would become their home.  
As the ninja understood what they would do, and threw themselves at the night's mercy, their rapid footsteps ran over the puddle of red on the floor leading to the dark.  
Imada glanced at the old man who grew concerned with the young woman out there in the Masatake forest. The old man's eyes fueled with renewed fear. It was a gesture that Imada delighted himself in. He pressed the gleaming sword into the scabbard with a moment of triumph. Yes, he had good reason to laugh.  
Buckling with laughter, Imada resembled a true madman drowning in power. His lust for command sent hm over the edge, and his greed teetered in basking greatness.

Chapter thirty-six  
Outside, in the taunting Masatake forest, the deep foilage of trees ran for many miles. A stunning pattern of trees overlapped each other like a river of shapes. So many forms pressed into each other like a wild orgy of nature.  
The gathering of woods covered a greater part of the countryside, and you could easily lose yourself in these parts. The darkness crawled around here like fat, juicy worms slinking into the grounds, and a frightful silence penetrated the forest like an awful sigh. They moved along the bustling waters that poured with chatting waves. The writhing river raged between the trees like a noisome animal, splashing against the shores.  
This simple route of water darted between the woods like a beautiful thing, washing over the rocks that dotted along the landscape. Night collapsed around the river with a grasp while the resting silence cluttered the woods with an awe. The chorus of waters chipped away with a length of movements.  
This splendid beauty of life became a preparation with the watery sounds, always a splish and a slosh. It became a noise of hope.  
TJ worked to find some food by spearing a fish in the river. It wasn't very deep here, and he stepped into the whooshing waters as he went ankle-deep in the crevice. He held himself against the currents while he held the bow and arrow in his hands, using his adept skill of finding food at the end of a sharp tip.  
Meanwhile the Doctor sat like a statue as she was thinking over the current matters, her features offered a soft appraisal of the situation. She became lost in her own thoughts, falling deeper into the meditative state she found herself in. Her face looked sweet with the small, trickling session of moonlight falling on her. The Doctor was like a shadow melting into the night.  
Which left the young girl on her own, having no one to speak to. She glanced around at the trees which leaned against the night like bullying shapes, and she did not like how the woods snaked from the broken grounds. The coldness of the night became a frigid thing.  
Now the wind held against the giant of the woods, shivering, rattling, while the branches made a rustling sound every time the gusty breeze passed. She could see the handsome form of the Chinese man trying to bait the fish.  
“I'm not eating that,” Yuki said.  
“You'll need to eat,” TJ said.  
“I'd rather starve.”  
He let go of the bow string which made an erupt vibe, and the snapping sound twisted as a fish was spiked in the water below. You could hear the thing splash in the water as it struggled with the arrow punched through it.  
TJ lifted the fish from the water which wasn't wiggling anymore on the arrow, and he noted it with some pride. He was a very good hunter on the battlefield and off, seeing how he could survive in the forest for weeks if he wanted to.  
“I'm not eating it raw!” Yuki whispered loudly.  
“It isn't so bad. I thought Japanese like raw meat.”  
“Not all Japanese.”  
“I'll prepare the food, and you won't even notice the difference. I urge you to take a bite. It'll help you keep your strength up.”  
“You must think I'm some kind of savage.”  
“Not at all. We're all savages deep down inside.”  
“Ugh.”  
“I'm not cooking with a fire. It'll give us away...”  
Seeming to choke with disgust, she turned her face in disapproval. She didn't want to look at TJ or the fish that was hooked on the arrow. It was interesting to note that she had no problem seeing a man being murdered on the temple grounds, but showed shock at seeing a fish being tapped for food.  
TJ began walking towards the shore, his work done. It didn't make sense for him to stick around in the water more, his feet wet from the sloshing waters. His bow anchored over his shoulder while his right hand still clenched with some hurt from his injury.  
“I believe the Doctor might have some sauce that would make the fish edible,” TJ said. 

Chapter thirty-seven  
The Doctor woke abruptly from her thoughts, her eyes still closed to the surroundings around her. It seemed like her mind testing itself against the cosmic will of the universe that spoke to her and she became a channeling source for it.  
She was like an antenna to pick up signals from the unknown. She spoke with a rapid-fire beat that showed she was fiercely aware of everything around her.  
“I left all the packages in the TARDIS,” the Doctor whispered. “Sorry.”  
“What is the... TARDIS?” Yuki said.  
“It'll take too far to explain,” the Doctor said. “But you can see it as my magic box.”  
“So you are a magician?”  
“Then you'll be disappointed if I was a magician. My kind of magic is called science... something you have yet to see in your dark ages.”  
“I do not understand.”  
“It's my traveling box.”  
“You travel in a box? That's ridiculous. Heh.”  
“That's the first laugh I heard from you since we left the temple,” the Doctor said. “Perhaps there's a side of you we don't know yet.”  
“You don't know anything about me,” Yuki said.  
“Well, traveling in a box doesn’t sound so discomforting as you think,” the Doctor continued. “You just need to keep an open mind.”  
TJ reached the others after taking leave the river behind him, and his naked feet trampled on the grass beneath. He got small tufts of hair on his feet which might have been a shock to the young girl, making him look impish.  
He made the habit of skinning the fish with a knife as he went to work in front of the girls, kneeling down before them. His hands moved in a methodical way while he tried to make the fish look more presentable.  
“I do not understand why we have to eat the fish like that,” Yuki said.  
“I told you! We can't use a campfire to cook us,” TJ said. “The enemy will spot us within a mile.”  
“Of course.”  
“It's better to remain in darkness.”  
The young girl looked at the fish like she was going to vomit, holding back her response. She tried to remain composed, but hearing the scratching of the knife, the nicking of skin, fixed on her mind.  
It wasn't the workings of a chef, but a crude savage willing to bite into the soiled meat uncooked. She did not watch while TJ used the knife's edge to cut away the fish head, watching it split off like a tiny, cold block.  
Slipping into another period of deep thoughts, her steady frame grew into a resting phase. She was like digging into another part of the abyss on the invisible steps of her mindscape.  
You could see the Doctor felt comfortable with thinking in her own place, like a warrior working on some delicate storm of strategies. Her thoughts grew more devious as she sank more into the thrusting knowledge she operated with.  
Her face grew still as the night's calm and she didn't want to be bothered. Her eyes remained close to the immediate surroundings, instead holding herself in a garden of thoughts. She would pluck at her thoughts like a gallant explorer seeking answers.  
“My family was killed,” Yuki said. 

Chapter thirty-eight  
Her pretty face seemed a little darker now that she let the past catch up with her, and she looked like a young girl who went through the passages of personal hurt. Yuki squeezed her hand at the dirt, making a small whimper.  
She remained seated while TJ looked at her, his eyes casting over the lovely features which turned darker. Yuki didn't want to show any outward signs of anger or defeat, trying to stay compressed with her feelings. She took a gasp of air as she lifted her eyes to TJ.  
“I'm sorry to hear that,” TJ said as he peeled away at the fish.  
“The bandits were cowards of the night. They broke into my house with the savagery of jungle tigers, destroying everything. Their lowly forms were the devils.”  
“Why are they attacking people's homes?” TJ asked.  
“These savages have no care for the world, only want chaos. They want the world to turn into a graveyard so they get their precious trinkets.”  
“Sorry, I don't mean to sound callous.”  
“They were like monsters as they leaped from the night, swaying into the house like dark players. They killed my mother and father first, dipping their swords in red. I could not stop them because there were too many.”  
“You hid?” TJ said.  
“Yes, I feel ashamed for doing so. I feel like I betrayed my family.”  
“You survived to live to fight another day,” TJ added.  
“What does it matter? My older brother tried to fight them with a sword, but he too was engulfed by the darkness of the bandits. They attacked the house like an awful crime. They poured over you like the hounds of hell,” Yuki said as she tried to recollect her thoughts. “I remember my brother and I used to play in the walls. There were secret compartments, small chambers that hid me away from the searching ninjas. They were foul thugs who stopped at nothing. I watched them kill my parents, my brother...”  
Yuki took a moment to drag her breath, and her eyes were on the verge of tears. However, she tried to strain herself in telling the rest of the story to her audience. There was a terror washing over her word as she felt the icy hurt fill her chest.  
Why did memories hurt so much?  
“There is nothing left except for my hate of them,” Yuki continued. “These feelings of rage is the only thing that pushes me forward. My hate wages me on like a working clock. These ninja, bandits seek nothing except for money and power. Their cruel forms are like a corruption of Japan. Their thievery is the ruin of life here.”  
TJ listened to the story as he scraped the fish a little at a time, and her words affected him in a way that pulled him further, deeper into the tell-tale of a little girl's loss. He swept his knife over the fish in an orderly fashion.  
You could hear rickety sounds of metal against skin, screeching with a delicate stir. TJ felt his composure lessen slightly, and felt the heavy night weighing against him as he cocked his ear to listen with a polite gesture.  
Oh yes, the young girl contained a cold rage inside her, and she glanced around with a blaze of icy anger that became the passion for her. You could see the hurt filled in her eyes, and the knot of horror fueled her face like dangerous territory. She seemed to always watch behind her, wondering when the shadows would turn on her. Yuki's heart soiled with absolute rage that wrestled with her feelings.  
“It's not easy thing to carry from the past,” TJ said. “The wounds of old often makes us stronger.”  
“You are a poet of words,” the young girl said. “But all I want is perfect justice.”  
“I also lost a brother in a war.”  
“Really?”  
“Sometimes I see his face in my dreams when I'm sleeping at night. It always haunts you. Though violence is not always the answer.”  
“I could not forget the screams of my family which wake me up in the middle of the night. Their dying sorrows is my torture.”  
“To allow yourself to be played by such thoughts can drown you in darkness,” TJ said. “Is that what you want?”  
“Yes, I want justice to be dealt to these horrible men. The bandit like Imada Shinobu is a menace. The ninja rapes my country like a sweeping storm, leaving every death in a path of destruction.”  
“Do you know who Imada Shinobu is?”  
“He is an evil man. I went to the temple on the hill because I knew the old man as a friend of the family. And now the ninja took the last family I have in Kamachi. I sought his protection, and this is what became of him.”  
“We don't know if he's gone. I think he's strong enough to deal with his enemy.”  
“Yes, I know. Kamachi was also known as the Golden Dragon because of the fierce way he attacks.”  
“The Doctor and I will find a way for you to escape all this,” TJ said.  
“You don't understand. I do not want to run away from this misery. I want to have my revenge on those who took my family.”  
“That would be dangerous,” TJ said.  
“I want to go back to my home for my family remains. I want to burn the ninja to the ground and I'll make sure none of this happens again. I'll kill the leader of the bandits myself.”  
“That's quite an agenda.”  
“And you better stay out of my way,” Yuki said.  
The girl got up to her feet, her beautiful hips swaying while she ran down the parched paths which wheezed between the knotted clumps of forest, losing herself in the depths of the night. Her pretty face riddled with tears, her footsteps moved in a hurried way.  
TJ dropped everything he was doing to join her in flight, putting the knife to the very side. He could still see her form poking in and out of the stray woods, playing her favorite game of hide-and-seek.  
She moved in a helpless rage, her face gripped with a flood of sadness. She was a woman who wanted to scream at the world. TJ attempted to follow her into the dark, feeling a little sorry for her.  
“I wouldn't follow her,” the Doctor said.  
“Mind your damn business,” TJ said.  
And he walked on after the girl like she was part of a fairy tale. All you needed was the fiery dragons, the saving knight and something else that would make it special. Oh yes, the pretty girl.  
It left the Doctor on her own along the shoreline. No longer the mother. She felt a little left out by her companions who were growing up. 

Part Four  
Chapter thirty-nine  
In the dark pit of woods, where the silence swept with a pressing presence, the wrangled trees struggled to remain noble despite the hanging poses they made. They looked more like sad heaps falling into a sullen whisper.  
They looked like crooked fiends cowering in the sifting darkness, a broken slumber left askew on the grounds. Cluttered branches, creaking leaves, the blackest forest looked like a smoldering blight wrecked by shadows which took hold like a clinging menace.  
The young girl found herself some peace for the first time since she left the temple grounds in Qichang, and now she was in the middle of miles of forested country while her heart was racing with beats. She searched for release for herself, shaking like a lost boat in the middle of a storm. She refused to let the dark Masatake forest frighten her.  
Her quiet features were round, blissful, her lips a spread of red as the long strides of black hair framed her lovely Asian face. Much of her hair fell against her neck, soothing cheeks meeting the air with a soft greeting.  
Yuki preferred to be by herself now, wanting to cut herself off from the rest of the people, the wretched world. She wanted to leave everyone behind and do everything herself. It would give a chance for her revenge to flower like a real kindness.  
Being here made her think of the time when she studied in her room with all the paper and kanji characters of writing on it. She remembered the pleasant comfort of it before she watched a storm rushing over the skies, turning the countryside into a blanket of darkness.  
She remembered how she dropped her fountain pen which made an inky spill, and grew rigid at the sloshing rain that spilled over the rooftop like a vagrant fiend spitting in the skies. She recalled how her brother practiced shooting arrows and her parents made sure that the food was placed on the dining table. She liked how hot the kama would be with aroma of steamed rice inside it.  
Yuki missed those moments.  
Now, being here in the middle of the forest, the scenery made her feel dirty, pitiful, and it made her unhappy seeing her mud clogged with mud. Yuki pressed the flat of her hand to the tree bark while helping herself stand on her feet.  
“You there?” TJ said from the cloister of woods behind her.  
“Leave me alone,” Yuki said.  
“Well, look, you'll be able to clean yourself off once we're done getting through the forest. This isn't forever.”  
“I'm sick of it. My hair is a mess. And I miss my family.”  
“I know that all of us have lost something in our lives. It takes time to adapt, to heal.”  
“Wish it wouldn't take so long.”  
“I abandoned my roots in China to travel with the Doctor. I'm able to go anywhere I want and learn different things. To lose something means you can gain something else.”  
“I wish I had a carefree life,” Yuki whispered.  
“You could go with the Doctor. It can help you forget the past. It becomes just a ghost to you. All that matters when you're traveling with the Doctor is what happens next.”  
“Oh, I can't. I have... responsibilities. Galloping around like that sounds immature.”  
“I'm sure it does.”  
“What are you doing?” Yuki said.  
“Being attentive,” TJ said.  
“Stop doing that.”  
“Well, don't hold yourself back.”  
He stepped forward like brave warrior looking for his reward, his stronghold shoulders features seen in the moonlight. His eyes caught sight of her charming beauty as she didn't move, looking aloof.  
The soft wails of her pretty face begged for the comforting lifestyle she longed for. TJ could see she hugged her back against the tree, a small girl reaching only a height of five foot two. She remained gentle as a purring cat.  
TJ leaned over to kiss her as his intentions were clearly made, and he felt the time was right to express his feelings for her. His lips were made ready to press against her inviting mouth, but she turned away from him as her head snapped away in repulsed manner. It wasn't what he expected in this romantic interlude, breaking the mood.  
She looked like a girl who wanted to stay alone for the rest of her life.

Chapter forty  
He saw that she didn't want any part of him even though he thought to have chipped away the coldness of her. She was like an icy person with an invisible wall all around her. She kept her head tilted away.  
Was she being too sensitive? She wasn't offering any part of herself, and she lived with too much pain in her life to think about something innocent like a kiss. Did she think she was too good for him?  
“I'm sorry,” TJ said. “Did I offend you?”  
“No..” Yuki said.  
“Are you married?”  
“It's complicated.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“There's too much going on.”  
“I'm sorry. I was taking advantage of you,” TJ admitted.  
“No. I don't know. I'm confused.”  
Why was it that anyone said something was complicated when asked a question? Was she trying to hide something?  
Was he so ugly to her that she recoiled from him with a wrenching cough. She seemed to take stock of everything from her high and mighty views, and so skittish when it came to being around other people like a stray cat. Her eyes glanced away from him, not wanting to meet his stare.  
He felt rejected by her nonetheless, and his emotions hit rock bottom while feeling the clenched pain in his stomach that burned like a pit. She remained at arm's length from him, and she held herself in the gripping cold pressure of her anger. Some deepest sorrow drugged her with more sadness.  
“I have only you in my thoughts,” TJ began.  
“You should have other thoughts in your head,” Yuki replied.  
“Your body is like transcendence to me, like a dream. Your face could make a man drop to his knees.”  
“Stop it.”  
Your neck and shoulders are like poetry...”  
“You're making a fool of yourself.”  
“If you could only let me cross that bridge to hold you...” TJ said.  
“You could have better manners when you address me,” Yuki said.  
“What manners? I don't have any,” TJ said.  
“There will be a time when we must part ways and you will not accompany me.”  
“I don't understand.”  
“You will. You will know all too much,” the girl whispered.  
She walked passed him as she went back to the sitting area, going back to their stomping grounds. The way she broke off was a little crude, and she made no attempt to further the conversation with him.  
Whatever feelings she had was suppressed further down into her troubled soul. TJ respected her wishes as she pushed forward from him in a long streak of fast footsteps.  
He also began to walk back through the night-spewed forest which mocked him, and he felt the darkness ravaged the grounds before him like a slashing loss. He felt more hurt in this encounter than the time he was cut by her with the knife.  
This time, the wound became a mental hurt for him. TJ tried ignore the pain twisting in his chest, but the intruding hurt would be his company. He would be sleeping alone tonight. 

Chapter forty-one  
The others returned for the night while the drifting night fell into a long slumber. All the while TJ remained on guard while the women took to sleeping in their places, and the flailing trees shook like featherless birds, hearing the rattle of leaves that sounded like jostling ghosts in dark hallways.  
TJ looked at the young girl who laid on her side, her round hips reminding him of the spoils of native Chinese homeland. He could see she was sleeping soundly, not bothered by what happened. Her tender skin was a language of beauty.  
In the pressing blackness, where the scrolls of darkness laid out between the woods, the Doctor slept in a deep note as well. Was she sleeping really? Or was she just resting on the edges of feigned sleep? Her lovely features were framed by the toying strings of her dark hair, hanging across her face. You'd almost expected her to blow the random hair out of her mouth.  
However, TJ kept his eyes on the most beautiful woman who broke his heart. He found it very difficult to talk to her, swallowing his words. Figured that the moments of silence would do the speaking for him.  
No girl was worth the extra work like this one. She had been unappreciative and very rude in her snapping judgments of others. She was incapable of any feelings that normal people would have. She seemed only concerned with herself while she kept all the secrets for her own private thoughts.  
Still he liked the way she breathed softly as her lips pursed slightly, and the way she laid her left hand on the ground in front of her. She's got the cute, upturned nose that sat with a splendid calm on her face. She slept for the first time while the sepulchers of darkness circled around her like a splitting warmth.  
TJ thought about his past as he sat on the ground with his outstretched knees, and he remembered how he protected his emperor from those who would cause harm. His lifetime in China was met with many dangers while staying at his emperor's right side. It became a worldly effort to stay ahead of his enemies. He became a member of the emperor's staff at a very young age due to his ability as an archer. It was an unmatched skill like no other.  
He always had the skill with the bow and arrow, and his earliest memories were of him shooting apples off the people's heads without putting a mark on them. He remember how he always knew when to hit his target. He got a sort of second sight, but he often leaned slightly to his right to get the proper angle.  
That made his reputation known when he worked at the festival doing petty stunts. He rose to so much fame locally that the emperor called him to hire him on, and TJ more than happy to work for the emperor while taking care of his family.  
Now he traded all of that for protecting a time-traveling woman he didn't even know that much about. The Doctor was like eye candy to him, and seeing her made his heart leap for adventure.  
The night became warmer still as the forest seemed to sneer, or maybe it just looked helpless to him. TJ grabbed the bow in his left hand while he stood up on his feet, casting a precursory glance around him. Somehow the air grew like a working furnace while the night moved with a stutter in heat.  
Something was wrong here. 

Chapter forty-two  
The others were sleeping now while the night revolved in the skies like a lost ark in darkness, hiding the spiderweb of details. Now the trees seemed to shudder while the tufts of air sparked richly with more warmth.  
TJ started to climb up a tree after he shouldered his bow, and his feet stirred on the brakes as he moved up further into the waiting heights.  
Yes, he did like the young girl very much as she still slept at the bottom of the trees. Yuki remained in a special place in his heart.  
Yet she was someone who built a world of her own. She wrapped herself in far too much grief while pushing others away in her stark anger.  
Her family's death consumed her too much while she carried herself like a spirit of vengeance. Looking for ways to redeem herself after what happened. Even while she slept she got a scowl on her face while the hurt hanged in her mind.  
When TJ reached the top of the trees, beating the foremost heights, he saw the ample foliage around him. There were tons of leaves sitting around in pillowy cushions of nature, and the wake of the forest settled with this misguided paradise of green and tree bark.  
His eyes caught sight of a crack of life that burned through the dark like a smear of melted crayon. It looked like a dragon's breath growing bigger, and the seething blanket of rippled like an unsafe curtain. Something was clattering at the very edges of the woods, getting too close.  
TJ kept sniffing the smoke that was cursing the air, and he felt the rampage of heat snarling in the distance. His face grew frantic while the abyss became broken by a renewed horror that seeped through the forest with a towering fire.  
It was a fire.  
And the forest was burning.

Chapter forty-three  
He couldn't believe what he saw, and the forest became engulfed with a mass killing as the splotches of fire kept growing. It was like seeing a circus of flames going awry, seeping into the dead of woods.  
TJ jumped down from the branches right away, leaping down the next ledge, and kept a careful stance in balance like a butterfly finding a right place to land. He moved like an acrobat while carrying the heavy weight of news at the bottom of his heart.  
Despite the pain, his hands gripped the bow as he flung down to the lower branches, snapping through the many pages of leaves that got in his way. And yet he used his bow to keep his balance, his hands and feet finding the right niches as he scurried downward.  
When he reached the grounds, leaping down in a final step, he waited for a moment to settle on flat land. He would have to work hard to get ahead of the fire, and his throat constricted with a thirst that pegged him. His eyes filled with knowledge that was lethal.  
It was time to wake them up.  
TJ shook the Doctor with his hand, rocking her back and forth, and the woman got up right away in a sitting position. Her eyes lifted like narrow slits as she knew there was something serious going on. Right away, TJ went over to put his hand on the young Yuki's shoulder.  
“Unhand me!” Yuki said.  
“There is bad trouble,” TJ said.  
“What is it?” the Doctor said as she leaped to her feet, readying herself. She grabbed her coat while she slipped in on, handing like an old relic on her curvy figure.  
“The bandits are burning down the forest,” TJ said. “They want to smoke us out.”  
“Savages,” the Doctor commented.  
“There isn't any time to lose,” TJ said. “They're getting closer.”  
“And we'll be in their sights,” the Doctor said.  
“I'll lead the way.”  
“Perhaps we should split up now,” the Doctor suggested. “No sense if all of us getting caught.”  
“I think we ought to stick together.”  
“We must move,” the Doctor snapped. “And quickly!”

Chapter forty-four  
They combed through the forest with hurrying footsteps, always between the taunting shapes of trees and the billowing aches of broken heaps that filled the quagmire of more forests. They grew foreboding as the trees looked like overreaching imps, and the symmetry of night hammered into the forest with an oily intrusion slipping around the banked trees. They pushed through the thick passages of the abyss head of them.  
Behind then, like a warding signal of great menace, the flashes of fire could be seen at a thrashing distance. Now the hellish glitter of yellow and orange dripped like nervous twitches, and the maelstrom of fire tore through the trees like an infested sweep.  
Now the fanatic fire stroked and throbbed, belched and leaped, while the increasing ferocity of it claimed the idle trees like victims of a plague. The blood lust of flames beat faster, slaughtering the forest in its wrecking path. The stillness of the night was stolen by the peril of the coming fire, a wall of damages biting through the helpless trees.  
Smoke poured through the air while the escapees ran into the night, hoping for safe territory. They ran across the small river before finding themselves in the next patch of forest, spreading outward. Their legs grew tired while the seeking heat smothered their senses. The Doctor followed them in the night while the others rushed ahead, and the woman Time-Lord ignored the raking of the leaves as she dived and broke through the latticed branches with a jolting moves. 

Chapter forty-five  
TJ carried himself like a Chinese knight as he carried his bow should anything happen to him. He was a valorous man ready to lay his life down for the others, and his secret yearning for Yuki never fell away from him. The girl remained strangely at his side, though she seemed distant.  
The roar of fire hurt the forest behind them. Were the ninja following them? Could they be heard like the agents of night in the shadows? Was the forest being fueled by some heavy hand of destruction?  
The ninja moved like ghosts, nimble forms tore through trees, shredding the country with torches. Their outstretched hands brought death of fire to the trees around them. The ninja would tag more fire to the trees, a senseless waste.  
You could see the sparks and the dots of fire grazing on the trees, and it looked more like a fiery terror reaching closer. The tangible display of fire burned faster and bigger while it ate the forest.  
“This is where we need to part,” Yuki said.  
“What are you talking about?” TJ said. “What are you going to fight the ninja with? Your sarcasm?”  
“Please don't take that tone with me.”  
“You're crazy.”  
“You don't know me.”  
“I'm getting tired of you doing this. You'll need our help. This is not something you can do alone.”  
“Yes, it is,” Yuki said.  
“It'll make more sense of us to stay together. We can help you find refuge from all this, but you need to cooperate,” TJ said.  
“You'll obey me!”  
“Stop it with your constant demands. And your temper tantrums!”  
“And you're a lowly peasant!”  
“What did you call me?”  
The Doctor caught up with the quarreling couple, weaving between the trees like an elder statesman. Her cutting figure stepped out of the shadows as her hair sifted around her face. She hushed the others as she turned to see the approaching fire.  
Her hand signaled for the younger people to calm down, and her fixated features became serious, daring them to utter one more word. Her presence became overpowering like a towering whiplash.  
Her eyes could freeze an army. In her eyes grew the basking flames that seeped into the wounded forest. Her lips pursed slightly while her steely anger breathed through her expression. She gave up on the ill-tempered childlessness of the others around her.  
The Doctor forged ahead on the patch ahead of her, seeing the others arguing like a married couple, bickering, snapping. Their tongues lashed out with insults. Everything turned sour while she watched with regret, a burning basket of passions.  
Now the Doctor felt like she stepped into a soap opera drama and how they raged on in their private war. Her shoulders slouched as she grabbed the others' attention with her seething eyes.  
She looked like a woman who was ready to roar, and the others didn't want to upset her. The Doctor stood before them like a disapproving mother hen.  
“You'll have to obey me, and I'll tell you why,” Yuki said. 

Chapter forty-six  
The young woman led the others to a hanging fixture of the cliff, overlooking the giant abyss of trees and hills. Below was the valley of snaking trees that laid on the bowels of the earth. And yet, saddest of all, these would soon be victims of the great fire.  
Still the young woman held her hand theatrically as if offering a view for an impromptu tour guide, and her hand wafted through the air with a commanding sway.  
Pulling the latticed branches aside, making a short cut to a good view, she showed the others the manic architecture of windows and jutting steeples that reigned in glory. The levels of stellar décor where the habits of stone, mortar and clay worked together in an underlying, yet strong building.  
Much of this was build well before the Meiji Restoration where the focus still remained on the gentle persuasion of the architecture instead of the modernity of it. This cornerstone of imperial design remained on the grounds beneath like a welcome sight, and the torrid walls, gregarious windows and many gardens suggested an aristocratic lore.  
The Doctor and TJ could see the rambling display of architecture before them that was very powerful. There were many gleeful qualities that remained massive, and the wreath of the building could be viewed in the high platforms and many columns used as support for the overhanging rooftops. It was all formed within the palace walls that looked like a marvel. Who would dare to invade such a place?  
“What is this?” TJ said.  
“I'm royalty,” Yuki confessed. “This is why I must do it alone.”  
“What? You'll be killed,” TJ replied.  
“Better that you stay behind and save yourselves. Find your magic box.”  
“We're going through this together to the bitter end.”  
“I can't allow you to come into the royal chambers. It's not allowed.”  
“This is... wrong!”  
“Don't let your passions get the better of you,” the Doctor chimed in. “I always did have my suspicions.”  
“You knew?” TJ snarled at the Doctor.  
“Well, I did have a few inklings,” the Doctor said.  
“You're not giving very direct answers,” TJ said.  
The Doctor turned to the archer as her fierce eyes seemed like cracked ice, and the wail of immortality trailed in her searing glance. There was something supernatural about the way she composed herself, like a streak of power riveting inside her. She turned to appraise the forest fire that scorched closer, ruining the night.  
Yes, the ninja would soon smoke them out of the woods, and it wouldn't be a good idea for them to stay in one place for too long. The battered trees cried out in pain, and the wrenched grounds felt the approaching heat was too much to bear. Below the cliff, in plain sight, the sloped hills met with the frightening heights, pushing downward in a crazy drop. The place was where the bandits took over, and they dominated the countryside with their constant bullying. This royal shelter waited for the young girl.  
“It didn't take me long to figure it out,” the Doctor said in a fast voice, “The girl's mannerisms at the dining table, and the way she handled the chopsticks. The old man bowed to her every time he spoke to her. And she never used contractions in any of her spoken language. Her speech seems higher educated.”  
“You are enjoying this, are you not?” Yuki said.  
“Oh yes, a contraction is using an apostrophe. For instance, when you say isn't instead of is not, that's a contraction,” the Doctor continued. “There is also the way she walks, more dignified than a common girl. She always speaks with authority.”  
“Damn you,” TJ said. “I get it now.”  
“I tried to steer you away from her, but you were adamant,” the Doctor said. “She wouldn't have done anything with you, being a princess.”  
“I don't believe this,” TJ scowled as he turned to the young girl Yuki. “Are you married?”  
“Not yet,” Yuki said. “It is an arranged marriage with a prince to be held tomorrow. That is why the bandits attacked. They are trying to destroy a royal union.”  
“Then you can let us help,” TJ said. “I've helped royalty before. I can do this again.”  
“I'll have you removed from the premises along with the bandits.”  
The Doctor put her hand on TJ's shoulder, and her fingers gripped with gentle care. She blew out her breath with a sense of regret, letting herself get carried away. Her hair flowed around her neck with longish willows over her crimson dress. She pulled her friend back just a little, hoping to break up the temperamental romance before it got worse.  
“I think she's telling us to leave out of it,” the Doctor said. 

Chapter forty-seven  
TJ didn't move, his feelings gripped in a tidal wave of emotional breakage. He didn't know what he wanted to say, and most of it was anywhere between anger and desperation. The Doctor remained at his side, not leaving him while the other girl worked her way to getting the branches out of her way.  
She told the others that she needed some rope because she'll be going over the cliff, and that it was the only way to get by the guards. She didn't like the idea of doing so, but there were several ledges along the way she could take breaks on. Yuki knew this area like the back of her hand. It was time for her to start acting like a princess.  
However, TJ gave her a look that wasn't very kind at all. The coldness poured into the thins of his eyes. He grabbed the rope that he had in his baggage over his shoulder, took it out. The entire conversation didn't grow very lively, and the range of anger could lit an entire bonfire if you let it. The young girl took the rope and began looping it over the cliff.  
“I'll need your knife,” Yuki said to TJ. “The good one.”  
With a jolt, finally coming back to his senses, TJ grabbed the knife from the side sheath, pulling it out with a rushing sound with all the skill of a warrior. He planted the flat of the knife on the girl's palm, his fingers releasing the hilt.  
There seemed to be an odd moment, and his bandaged hand told the both of them how they first met with her cutting him. And now he was giving her another knife that she would use to protect herself. She dully accepted the weapon before turning to her daring feat of climbing down the cliff.  
“I won't forgive you,” TJ said. “For not telling me.”  
“I expected you wouldn't. This is where we must separate,” Yuki said. “The bandits will burn down the forest.”  
The girl loosened the rope around a rock and tied it into a working knot, using it to dangle the rest of it below. It sank into the crying abyss below, seeing the darkness lashing out with all its dangerous heights.  
She knew these parts well enough to keep going, her intent to climb down the steep slopes. She's played in these parts before with her older brother many years ago, and she knew every hook getting through here. She loved the idea of running free again, like a bird flying from its nest. It was a time to prove her worth, and take everything back to her, the palace, her good name and fortune.  
Her royal beauty sparked in the faded moonlight, framed with an absolute perfection. She eased herself down the rope, gripping hands shuffling with strength. Soon she would vanish into the underworld of darkness that consumed her. The abyss of cliffs waited for her in a downward direction.  
She didn't even say thank you, not a sudden farewell to maintain some small contact of friendship. Nothing soothed the anger that held inside her She would go into the web of horror that raided the royal palace.  
Now the Doctor and her friend remained at the cliff in silence, feeling the thin air wrapping around them. They watched the princess Yuki give herself to the darkness below, a striving form meeting a test of will.  
There grew a silence as the rope stopped moving, and she must have reached the first ledge in the dark freedom. The air grew chilly with a smattering of cold brushes that kissed the rocks and trees that laid around the palace.  
Something conspired against the highway of trees and the beautiful ravages of the riches surrounding the area. The cold blunder of winds circled against the slopes, heaving with a whimper.  
And the rope snapped again, loosening itself. It was like an Indian snake trick as it rippled below where the princess tugged and pulled.  
You couldn't argue with a woman hell-bent on her divine mission. She was determined to win back her royal palace. 

Chapter forty-eight  
“Were you ever going to tell me?” TJ said.  
“I tried to,” the Doctor said.  
“Apparently it wasn't good enough.”  
The Doctor turned to her friend to salvage what little friendship they had left, and the waning discussion that crumbled like tidbits of shame. Her eyes grew into crevices of concern while she blew out her breath at the scenery below.  
It would not have done any good to help a disillusioned romanticist who had his feelings robbed in a grinding love. It was better for him to be hit by the face of truth himself.  
However, the Doctor had other things on her mind. She gained a grin on her face that stretched wide while her eyes blinked softly. She turned to her companion with an inspired note. Walking back through the forest of fire wasn't an option.  
She said, “The palace rules only applies to humans. It doesn't say anything about aliens, right?”  
TJ turned to the Doctor as he tried to smile, but couldn't. His heart was still feeling heavy from the recent loss of possible love. 

Chapter forty-nine  
The horseman returned in the throne room after arriving from the brief horse ride, and his ungainly form suggested an awkward slight. His features deflected from the scar that remained visible near his right eye.  
His attacks on the palace left an empty seat in the throne room. One that he was taking for himself.  
He resembled a dark warlord stepping out of the cloud of smoke, his face crooked with a harshness that shapes his anger. He moved like a rolling boulder, powerful, breathing like a dragon with fire pouring out of his nostrils.  
His fairy tale presence resumed in the royal throne room where he made his initial attacks on the royal family. And killed them all.  
Except the princess.  
His scar on his right temple became proof that of the triumphant battles he had been in during his life. He was a man who understood war.  
Strike at the heart of the palace, and he would capture the power of the land... leaving him in the throne remained a fruitful idea during a time of civil war in Japan.  
The ride from the temple in Qichang to the royal palace in Osaka proved eventful including the rages of fire that tore through the forest.  
Sitting back in the throne seemed an impossible feat for many, but he showed that even the lowliest beggar could climb his way up the social ladder. His hands rolled over the polished armrests while his neck craned at the ninja who filled the room with their lingering presence.  
Imada Shinobu lifted the chowan of hot sake as he drowned himself in drink, and then chewed on a piece of bread on the tray. He still resembled a street rat while taking his place on the throne.  
“Yes, this feels right,” Imada said.  
Ten miles of travel from the small village where the temple was to this royal palace was a hefty tour, but he could not forget that there was still one problem that persisted in the woods outside.  
The princess.  
She was still the last, living descendent in the royal bloodline. If he could cut off the royal members of the palace, he would have the palace to himself. Winner would take all.  
He was writhing on the throne now with glee, yet priding himself on overlooking the realm of power that sat before him.  
The next morning: He'll assassinate the prince.  
The lush décor of the room surrounded him with amazing riches, always gold, and the chambers resembled a ball room that stretched like an ice rink. He waved the young woman away who brought him the sake, nearly knocking her aside. She was delicious in her flesh, but he didn't notice her at the moment. He craved more power like a man addicted to the lair of wealth.  
As the ninja still combed the forests while the fire lifted from the acres of greenery like an angry spur, the flames looked ghostly in the distance. Vapid disease of heat spread in over the wasted foliage.  
With a basking glory in violence, the bandit got up from the throne as he stood before the other ninja who remained idle in his presence, always waiting orders like supple shadows in the room. His eyes offered a glance that could knock down a wall.  
“Have you found the princess yet?” Imada Shinobu said.  
“No, m'lord,” the ninja said.  
“Why is it so difficult to find just one wretched woman? Do your eyes deceive you?”  
“We will cover every area of the kingdom until she is uncovered.”  
“As long as she lives, the balance of power in the throne room is threatened,” Imada added.  
The ninja nodded.  
Imada continued,  
“You will get your wealth, but don't make the same mistake as Winter's Eye did. You know that will be your fate too.”  
With a hopeful gaze, the ninja stirred from the room like a breath of darkness. There were others like him, protecting their time-honored master for money. And little else. Imada Shinobu was the first to chip away the power of the palace and build himself a legacy here, starting a clean slate.  
And yet Shinobu felt like he was trapped in a bubble, and could not afford to get close to anyone. He couldn't trust anyone within the temple, and he remained on his guard. If there was a paradise in absolute power, it was still within his reach somewhere.  
Except he still trusted his second-in-command Shun Shige who stayed at his side through the worst of it. Shun looked like he escaped from an asylum with his constantly moving eyes, though some might say it was something he was born with. He always had that nervous twitch ever since he was a kid. His glance danced with a giggly crude effect in his head, whirling around like he was lost in his delight for cruelty. Shun's past was a violent one.  
His voice sounded like a woman with a gravely tone, though there was still a masculine quality about it. And yet, beneath his words, like a trampy hiss, he spoke with an insidious note that was still frightening.  
“The fire will chase them out,” the crazy man said.  
“I hope so,” Imada said.  
“There's something calm about the fire.”  
“Yes, a welcome sight. It reminds me of another day,” Imada said to his friend.  
“I know of which you speak of.”  
“It is before I met you, long before, my ugly friend. I used to have a father who was in the imperial army. Because of the arrogant decision made by this emperor, it cost my father's life leaving me the only child.”  
“It is best not to torture yourself with such memories,” Shun said. “You could be torturing others instead. Like that old man Kamachi you got in the cells below. Why not start with him?”  
“Because he is too stubborn and will perish before I drag any information out of him.”  
“It may serve as a good distraction.”  
“I remember the day my father died on,” Imada said. “It was like any other day, a cloudy day. And yet not so cloudy. He was killed in battle in a stupid way, having been stabbed from behind. I was left in the battleground like a lost soul.”  
Imada Shinobu paused for a moment as he watched the distant fire from his throne seat, and he could feel the sickness of the air growing around him. He knew what the sickness of it was. It was death. His hand lifted the cup of sake as he drank from it.  
The kingdom would be at his mercy once all the royalty have been executed, giving the people a sound message of rightful power. Oh yes, the death of his father was a chapter he cold not close. His anger lashed out like a pitchfork, stabbing, tearing.  
“I was taken in by a group of bandits when that battle was over,” Imada continued. “They were like scavengers picking up the pieces when they found me. I was presumed dead, and meant for me to go that way. The bandits taught me to seek revenge, to know power at your fingertips. I never knew what happened to my father's body who was dumped in a mass grave. I never saw him again.”

Chapter fifty  
Imada Shinobu felt the spirits of the past catching up with him, and his features twisted in a fiery roar. It was like something climbed into him, possessing him, a rage that sank into the timbers of his bellowing heart. His chin showered with mighty hair, making him look like a savage who stepped into the heaps of tyranny.  
He might have been the man who tampered with the gods, and his constant plans could conquer the heavens. Did he do the right thing by assassinating the whole of the royal family? And there was still the princess left in the country while her husband-to-be would be coming to the palace for the wedding.  
The world became an evolution of choices for him, and each decision broke into more choices. It became a vicious cycle for him: life and death. His fingers tapped on his armrest while he felt the world at his feet. His scarred face felt more like a visage of darkness, claiming the palace as his own.  
The ninja who spoke before raised his tone again: “We have word that there is a group of men and a carriage making their way down on the emperor's road about two hours away.”  
“Make sure they'll get a welcome committee when they get here,” Imada said.  
“Yes, m'lord.”  
“There will be no wedding here. And there will be no descendents for the House of Xue.”  
Shun Shige clapped his hands while making an applause that filled the room. He cut across the royal chambers like a ghost, his wafting figure moving with an angular expression of menace. He became a storm of sneers, his features taunting.  
Now Shun seemed far too thin to be human, and yet a little too thick to be a ghoulish, carrying himself like a sliver of nastiness that wailed with a fast sword and a faster bow. Seeing him would make one's stomach turn, his poisonous well of features wiggled like a nest of snakes. He endeared himself to his ghastly facade. He snapped his fingers.  
There would be entertainment. 

Chapter fifty-one  
With the clap of his hands, and the roar of applause, the room was cleared for a different kind of performance.  
It was the geisha.  
“Let's have our entertainment, shall we?” Shun said. “Bring us a diversion we can enjoy.”  
It was something that could be agreed on, and the men in the throne nodded with approval. There would be entertainment that could last a lifetime. The throne room was in desperate need of a feminine touch.  
A row of geisha strolled into the throne room with a tiny patter of footsteps, always proper. There was a paleness to their skin while the beauty of their forms countered the staleness of the room.  
Such faces carried stoic expressions that was prim and proper, hiding behind the quirky movements of fans. Their tight shoulders covered with the flowing garbs that wailed around their willowy frames like soft curtains.  
They would make good company tonight on the eve of triumph.  
These women wore formal black kimonos and Shimada-styled nihongami wigs, looking like an unearthly lore of beauty. Their obi was tied in the drum style while they carried themselves to the abrupt percussion of music that played in the background.  
They moved in a perfect stride, always remaining in a single line, a sight to behold. They lingered in waiting like fine, carved statues of perfection. These were no mere apprentices, but women buried in tradition, distinguished by the fine art of their profession.  
Imada Shinobu shot up from the throne seat while he lowered the sake on the tray. Now he traded his interest in the sake for something more formidable. His eyes caught sight of their idle forms standing at attention, playing at the affairs of the heart. They were like the wind of beauty, and the their thrusting features adopted a female dominance.  
He sloshed his way to the women who stood in their place, and he collected himself while he observed them, his eyes drank in their pretty bodies. He could see curvy, courting bodies molded from Japanese beauty.  
Yes, they were very beautiful. Their genuine forms lucid, delicate, almost dream-like in their stature. They were meant to be treated as such... gentle flowers of female examples, the highest form in the land. Their dutiful bliss, and swaying hips, matched their intimate features. They were like little goddesses to Imada Shinobu.  
“Now, now, this very nice,” Imada said.  
“It is, isn't it?” Shun said.  
“I would not complain now,” Imada said. “The room is bright.”  
Imada liked them all, finding himself in the temptation of sin right there. He felt the effects of their beauty while he drowned in the innocence of desires. And now he swayed with them, hypnotized by the doll-like figures who stood with them. He could see how they stood pretty, shifting like an autumn leaf.  
“So nice,” Imada said. “You remind me of the lilacs on the lake.”  
His fingers lifted to brush alongside one very pretty girl's neck, so young, an elusive tameness about her. And yet she was very feisty, holding herself against this approach. He studied her beauty as there was something familiar about her. The girls moved in clatter, easing themselves to a magic of their beauty. This one girl was like a panther.  
With a sudden commotion down the row, two of the geisha giggled with mocking laughter that filled the room. Perhaps their youth may be an excuse for their rowdy behavior. Imada turned to them with the anger blowing like a storm. His teeth gritted as he made snarling noises.  
“What is the meaning of this?” Imada shouted.  
“You don't know?” one woman said.  
The one woman he had been brushing his fingers with, and examining, busted into renewed life. She removed a knife from her robes as she pinned it against his neck, slipping into a whirlwind of haste.  
The sharpness of the knife tipped into his neck, bleeding him like a stuck pig. Her hand kept the knife in place while she stayed close to him, like a ghost of vengeance.  
It was the princess. 

Part five  
Chapter fifty-two  
“You have good taste,” Yuki said to Imada.  
“How dare you?” Imada sneered.  
No one else moved in the room, but Yuki was able to press so close to Imada while the other geisha offered a distraction in the throne room. The lively make-up, and the robes, served as good cover for Yuki in the middle of the enemy land.  
“You have the gall to stay that after you killed my family here?” Yuki said. “I'll have you punished.”  
“Well, m'lady, you impress me,” Imada said.  
“And you disgust me. Your looks, your wretched swords, everything. Call off your dogs!”  
Imada Shinobu nodded to the black storm of ninjas who warded off slightly, moving back a few steps to give the princess more space. She felt the reassuring distance between herself and the others. The ninja moved like slick weasels, agreeing to pull back.  
“You're a coward and a thief,” Yuki said.  
“What do you think you're going to do? This palace is filled with assassins.”  
“And a backstabber too,” Yuki added.  
“You'll never defeat us.”  
“There's always a way, and why not start with the very heart of the army which is you? Cut away the heart, and the rest of the body will collapse.”  
“You have a vivid imagination,” Imada said. “Why don't you give yourself up?”  
“I'm not the one with a knife stuck to his neck,” Yuki said.  
“What can you hope to achieve here?”  
“You were careless just now. I exchanged places with one of the geisha here. They'd do anything to stop an enemy like you. They don't respect you. They were willing, and I was willing to get close enough to you. I'm surprised you didn't recognize me right away.”  
“The make-up threw me off.”  
“Well, let's see how loyal your assassins are.”  
The princess grabbed Imada by his hair, grabbing a clump of it, and her fingers clawed between the slimy, oily hair that rivered like a slithering piece. She fixed the knife to his throat slightly deeper now, maintaining her threat.  
She dragged her captive along while she approached the others who remained rooted, though none reacted to her. Her face turned to see crazy man Shige who leaned over like an arching fiend, his curling lips flickered like he got a tic.  
If there was a cross between a vampire and a human, he would be it. His face grew pasty white with sickness that was normal for him. His eyes remained deep in his skull like arcane whispers, his face stretching with violent affection for the woman.  
Yuki jutted the knife into the man's neck a little more, cutting it slightly as the window of redness split open like an invitation.  
“How will you get paid if I kill him?” Yuki said. “You'll be out of money.”  
The bandits looked at each other.  
“I could pay you more,” Yuki said. “Make you richer than your wildest dreams.”  
The others did nothing as she made the rounds, keeping Imada in her grasp. None of the ninjas moved as they remained rooted, keeping to themselves like secret passengers of silence. They understood that authority was being turned over here.  
She gained the upper hand.  
And this was a game of chess for the bandits.  
Money. It was always about money.  
The lead ninja stayed in his place without moving an inch as did the others. They were like gargoyles resting on the side of a building, their framed outlines black as listless echoes. They only gazed on the beautiful girl who was a princess.  
She could see the archway and the balcony were also steeped with ninja, and the room became a flood of dark statues. They were standing like fleeting night fiends wreathing around the throne room. Yuki lifted her eyes to them with defiance.  
The other shadow men pulled their hands from their swords, judging from the situation. They were ready to make a move either to side with the princess or with the enemy of Japan. She grew restless for answers.  
“Whatever he's paying you, I'll double it,” Yuki said to the ninja. “Money is no object for me.”  
The ninja looked around as if they liked the idea of leaping into a bigger pile of money, and they turned to where the most money displayed. Their faces dragged with expression of greed shared by mankind since the beginning of time.  
“Is the old man Kamachi still locked up in the cell below?” Imada asked his second-in-command.  
“Yes, he is,” Shun Shige said.  
“Then kill him. I'm sure the princess would no longer care.”  
“Wait a minute!” Yuki scowled.  
“There, you see? That is a sign of weakness from a royalty,” Imada said. “I could manipulate and exploit you with a wave of my hands. Or a few choice words. This is opportunity. Is this not a game of chess?”  
The princess felt crowded now as she remained at the center of the web while the other men approached slowly like a jittery spiders. They crawled now like monsters coming out of a closet, and she still kept the knife to Imada's neck.  
The arrogance of such men! They pushed themselves with a tide of hate against confidence, and they used fear to get what they wanted. She got the dawning realization that perhaps she was losing after all.  
How was she going to get out of this? 

Chapter fifty-three  
The horseman grew angry at the interruption, and his growling was like that of a wounded beast. He didn't like the idea of a woman taking advantage of him, her blessed features riding like a lofty view as her gentle hair, bounded, revealed the circle of revenge in her face.  
Though the Japanese did not believe in things like the devil or God, their faith would have surely conjured up some remote semblance to the horned creature to signify evil. If there was a devil, it would surely be Imada Shinobu himself.  
“I would give a single order to cut the old man's head,” Imada said. “And there would be nobody left to witness your precious wedding.”  
“You monster,” Yuki said.  
“Heh. Lay down your weapon, or you'll never see Kamachi again.”  
“I should kill you with my bare hands.”  
“I do like that in you, princess. You got a lot of fire in you. We have many ways of dealing with enemies like you.”  
The princess said nothing as she kept the knife to his throat, grinding the tip into him without pruning further.  
“Your palace is no longer yours,” Imada said. “Your family will only be a footnote in history.”  
“I will not submit to you!” Yuki shouted.  
Then someone stepped forward through the window, a hooded figure dropping down from the small height. The invader grabbed a metal device from the pocket, seeing there was something different about this intruder.  
The dark ravages of hair swayed from her face and the showering beauty of her face was revealed. The magnificence of her smile stretched over her features while the cosmic storm could be seen her in eyes.  
“That won't be necessary,” the Doctor said. 

Chapter fifty-four  
“You are here?” Yuki said to the Doctor while she held she held the knife to her captive's throat.  
“Yup,” the Doctor said.  
“I knew you were trouble right from the start.”  
“I'm glad to hear it.”  
“You made things worse by coming here,” Yuki added.  
“If you're going to complain...”  
“You are only one person. With the princess, two,” Imada said. “We are many.”  
The Doctor turned around to see the surrounding ninja that settled like a valley of crows, their unfeathered wings reached with clawing fingers. Their faces hid in their masks like deadly secrets.  
With a threatening gesture, the Doctor held the sonic screwdriver in her hand. They moved like vampires with an affinity for blood.  
It seemed like the entire room was ready to snap like a rubber band, and the explosive roar of action meddled between the eager plays who swept the emperor's room like a howling hell. Their faces grew hungry for death.  
“You always have a zealous nature for drama,” the Doctor said. “That'll be your downfall.”  
“I do not care for your constant interference,” Imada said. “But the game is mine.”  
“It's a good thing I brought a friend to alter the course of the game. Since I've played chess before many times.”  
“How did you get by my guard?” Imada said.  
“TJ gave them a few sharp tips. I used my sonic screwdriver to lull many to sleep. They're out there on the courtyard. Sleeping.”  
“The price and his soldiers will be here very soon,” the Doctor said. “You'll be surrounded by the imperial guard.”  
“No!” Imada shouted.  
“They took a different route to avoid your little ploy,” the Doctor added. “They'll be here.”  
“I do not understand how you got here.”  
“With great care,” the Doctor sneered.  
Another figure stepped through the window as he welcomed himself to the current debacle, a hooded man with flowing robes. His features were familiar as the young girl sought him out, and the intruder pulled the hood aside to reveal himself.  
It was TJ.  
And his left hand pulled aside the bow which he unhooked from his shoulder. Even though the throne room was bathed in darkness, there was a small spark of light at the end of that long, black tunnel. She held the screwdriver in her hand like a mage carrying a magic potion that would ready to engulf the room.  
The Doctor grew angry with her seething words, developing a scene that bent on searing confidence: “There will be NO ambush tonight.”  
“Kill them all!” Imada Shinobu shouted. “KILL THEM ALL!”  
One of the ninja sprang into action near the Doctor, fixing his sai swords with a seeking, twirling counter. The Doctor gripped another ninja's sword faster than a blink of the eye as she swept the air with the unsheathed blade.  
She used the flat of the sword to snap against one of the attacker's faces, wheeling him backwards. The Doctor shifted around with a great precision, confronting her next foe. Her movements were out of time and space.  
Her hand lifted the sword cut through the air and pressed it to the ninja's neck, the sharp edges of the blade nearly burying itself with a thunder for battle. The geisha women ran out of the room to avoid any close contact with the attackers, their voices cried out.  
It was a welcome stall as the Doctor slipped into the maelstrom of the fight with another check, blocking the current ninja with her sword. She fixed the metal edge at his throat while the Doctor carried a universe of anger in her eyes that made the others cower back.  
The sword was a voice of terror.  
But her voice was louder. 

Chapter fifty-five  
“Stop it! STOP IT!” the Doctor yelled at the top of her lungs. “I know that you ninja have no honor, but surely there is something we can to resolve this.”  
“There is not,” one ninja said. “There is only death.”  
The ninja moved slightly like spiders in a web, concocting their deadly activities with a force of darkness. And yet, they remained in a flux while the Doctor shouted with words that was thick as the water falls.  
“We can settle this without further bloodshed by an old and time-honored challenge,” the Doctor said. “Your best man against our own best man.”  
Now the silent agreement was reached while the aggressive ninja held back for a moment, and the one ninja with the blade at his neck nodded. The shadows of men shifted over the floors and walls like cascading waves.  
She drew herself inward like a pinnacle of colliding stars, and her rage became the supernova that would engulf all of space and time. It felt like the biblical apocalypse was growing with her rising voice.  
The ninja said, “We do not owe Imada Shinobu anything, and he does not owe us anything. He killed one of our own... Winter's Eye. I suggest we allow for the contest to continue.”  
“There will be no backstabbing or fighting during the time of the challenge?” the Doctor asked. Her voice felt a menacing tone that suggested an earthquake of command.  
“Winter's Eye was my father,” the ninja said. “My name is Strom. I agree to these terms because I wish it. Name your stakes.”  
She watched the others as the horseman remained at the young woman's clutches, and the rest of the room fell into an orderly manner that suggested a dramatic stroke of genius. She wanted to much to avoid as much killing as possible and invoking a code of honor to a bunch of renegades who didn't have any was a good bluff.  
Of course, the Doctor showed that she could hold her own while standing on her own hill of command suggested respect in others. The shadow man named Strom did not move, keeping his word. She remained grim while holding the sword at an arm's length.  
“I want his right hand man Shun Shige to go into a contest with my traveling companion,” the Doctor stated.  
“This is nonsense,” Shun sneered.  
“Didn't you suggest you wanted to put our skills to the test?” TJ said. “You told me that once.”  
Shun Shige craned his neck as an anxiety attack hit him, and he felt the tension of the room knotted around him. His eyes clawed with regret while he looked at the others like a creature howling at the moon.  
“What is wrong?” the Doctor continued. “My friend here has a wounded hand which would give you the advantage. Or are you afraid?”  
“I'm not afraid of anything,” Shun said.  
“I'm glad to hear it because I didn't want you to spoil the party. If you win, you will have the palace. If we win, you leave the palace grounds.”  
“I... accept,” Imada Shinobu said. 

Chapter fifty-six  
As TJ watched the crazy horseman, like a billowy wind, shuffled on his feet while his hands danced with the bow and arrow, he turned with clapping feet. It was time for one to strike with a single, deliberate stroke.  
It was like watching the seas of calm being tapped with an echo of an attack, and the others watched with baited breath as the anxiety grew into a feeling one would get when watching the fatal arena games.  
TJ lifted his bow and arrow as well, like an earnest student of knowledge, and searched for a weakness. Wasn't that every good soldier looked for on the battlefield? The crowning victory came from finding the right note?  
Their hands clutched at the bows while they circled around like tigers in a jungle, and their audience watched at the very edges of the room. The crazy horseman sneered once while he gave a witch's grin.  
“Die, fool!” Shun shouted.  
Their hands flung like guitar strings throbbing, and the ravages of the arrows sliced through the air with sharp edges. The whole world seemed to stop for a moment while the arrows crossed paths like wooden bees buzzing into the empty gulf.  
And found their targets.  
This very room rippled with the crude battle while the courting arrows made their place in the duel. TJ's arrow hit first as it tore clean through the opposing arrow and into Shun's chest, a splashing of red painted the wall behind him as he fell.  
The opposing arrow cut through TJ's shoulder with a snapping hurt, nailing him with flooding pain. It was a choking spill of spilled death.  
There grew so much confusion, and the chasm of blackness shifted into acceptance that called on the righteousness of justice. Shun Shige fell to the floor with the defeat written on him, his bow clattered beside him.  
Imada Shinobu watched in a daze, a loss, his eyes following the unfolding events, and his disbelief drowned him. His face twisted into anger as he was plunged into the losing side, knowing he would be an outcast.  
“I didn't know you were going to kill him,” the Doctor said to her friend.  
She was a little upset.  
“Well, I didn't know either,” TJ said. “The injury in my hand threw me off.”  
The room fell into a sudden gasp that wrecked the senses, and they watched as Shun Shige laid out on the floor in his own puddle of blood. And the ninja turned to each other, nodding to conclude the contest.  
While the shifting madness held the throne chambers, held to watch the competing duo, the bandit named Imada Shinobu knocked the princess aside with a rude shove. He made his steady escape while flocking between the shadow men who were too late to catch him. Instead he ran out of the throne room with a stampede of footsteps, fast on his feet.  
He leaped through the window and grabbed the ledge before hurling himself outside. Imada pulled himself through the open window before resigning himself to the dark. His violable form moved in a cat-like intent.  
“He's getting away!” Yuki shouted. 

Chapter fifty-seven  
There was no way for her to catch up, remaining in the knot of diplomacy with the rest of the shadow men with remarkable grace. She remained on her feet while holding the sword in her hand. And the sonic in the other, like a nimble dancer keeping her leverage. She jerked her head up to see it was a few moments too late to catch Imada.  
There was only TJ left as he turned to see the escaping man taking his leave. The archer bolted between the wilderness of shadows before starting on the bandit's footsteps like a breath of storm.  
He ran past the princess and the Doctor. TJ leaped into the window while scuttling across the ledge, slinking away into the cleaving moonlight. The Doctor looked like she was going to say something to him, but he was gone like leopard jumping into the night.  
TJ listened to the footfalls of the other man across the courtyard of the palace, running between the squatting gardens mushrooming with great detail. It was a slippage of tattle-tale footsteps that gave away his presence.  
The night folded around the giant palace walls like a heavy sadness. His feet scissor-cut with ease, his voice panting in the air. There was only the darkness waiting for them outside. If Imada Shinobu should lose himself in the night, he may be gone forever.  
TJ listened to his footsteps at a distance.  
The archer gave chase as his rushing legs and pumping lungs poured with a heavy sigh, moving like a rambunctious runner. He watched as his foe's form engulfed in the darkness like an elusive thing, always whirling ahead of them. He moved in the darkness like a raving shadow.  
With a quickness, TJ stepped to the side as he heard the whooshing of shurikens darting at him. Imada was so desperate that he was going to cut TJ down with a mark of death. Instead, the archer sidestepped the shurikens as they tagged the wall behind.  
TJ still moved like a stroke of lighting, not letting the pursued get out of earshot. His legs ran into a great haste, catching up with Imada in their strange circle of dance. TJ felt his lungs scorched with hurt as he forced himself to skip a beat.  
He pushed and struggled as the bandit was getting away, and heard his own breathing turned into a hallowed rage, gutted sounds. TJ forced himself to stand still on the courtyard while the bandit eased himself into the dark like a swaggering shape, losing himself in the darkness that swamped the archer's sight.  
With a springing action, TJ put the arrow to the groove of his bow before pulling it back with his wounded hand. He listened to the patter of footsteps head of him, getting a good sense of the runaway's whereabouts.  
And he pulled the bow string knowing where his mark was.  
The snapping of the string was like the echoes of mercy being rattled, and the seeking arrow tore through the night into the man's leg. Imada collapsed down on the ground in a whimper, crawling with pain. 

Chapter fifty-eight  
Satisfied, TJ urged forward as he picked up a discarded sword from the courtyard where some fighting had taken place. There were some dead guards laying in heaps throughout the night, and his fingers gripped over the hilt with a renewed strength.  
TJ and the Doctor did that all. Carved themselves a path before reaching the throne room. Now TJ stood in the courtyard with his enemy.  
Now he moved through the dark battlefield as his feet struck against the pavement with a quiet burden. He eyed the crevice of darkness that cleared away under the slippery moonlight, moving closer to his enemy. His hand raising high to strike down below, his face tightened into tides of destruction while his prey skittered away in the dark.  
Oh yes, he was scared now.  
He was like a scared animal.  
Imada Shinobu wasted no time in fighting the archer even with a wounded leg. Their colliding forms poured into each other with a clashing banter. Their swords met with the static clinking sounds, whirling edges biting with metal. The ravages of fighting sparked with madness.  
“I do not understand why you fight,” Imada shouted. “You are not even Japanese!”  
“I do it for the honor,” TJ said with a grimace. “Something you lack!”  
“You are a fool, and a loveless fool!”  
“Shut up and fight!”  
“You're a man yearning after a woman who can't be yours,” Imada continued. “A love you could never have. She'll throw you aside like you're nothing.”  
They ran into each other with parrying, thrusting and fetching clashes of steely embrace, holding against each other in a desperate struggle. For TJ, it meant a fight for the princess. For the bandit, it meant revenge for his brother who died for nothing. They became consumed with burns of fighting, washing tides of silver metal nicking in mid-air. It became a private manner for them.  
TJ knew how to fight with the sword, his hand swinging with a burying technique that defended. His muscles grew taught, tightening with fatigue, but held himself against the raging animal that was Imada. The clanking sharp edges found themselves again in a threatening roar.  
He knew why the shadow men of ninja did not interfere, having nothing left to fight for. Their presence only became part of the midnight. They left Imada's fate to the archer, hoping that it would come to a conclusion.  
Imada the coward. The not-so-brave.  
With a skill bliss, TJ leaped and ducked to cancel out his opponent's offense. With a fiery twist, TJ gained the upper hand when he spotted a weakness in the other's charade of attacks. Yes, TJ dared to invade the other with a poet's rage.  
He leaned his sword forward with a sprinting speed that was like a swooping bird, probing the sharp edges of the sword to the other's neck. He was ready to thrust, but held back while the searching glaze of his eyes driving for blood. And his fingers tightened on the hilt with a passing thought.  
He wanted to kill this man.  
The lifetime of hurt, and the rage of lost love, angered TJ in this splitting moment, egging him on despite the sanctity of life. It wasn't enough to see Imada squirm while the sagging air wrapped around them in the night.  
“Go ahead and do it,” Imada sneered. “I'll be a martyr for others to follow.”  
“You deserve no less!” TJ said.  
Now the archer gathered his strength to lift the sword, circling with his intent to swing with a final cut. And it would be done with a cold, deliberate fashion without any panic. And yet a voice that could move mountains exploded behind him like the thunder stilled the earth.  
“Stop!” someone shouted. 

Chapter fifty-nine  
Turning around, just enough to see, TJ watched the princess cutting a stroll through the courtyard. Her eyes flitted with command while her jutting form grew abundant with fever-crushing presence. She moved through the silence that echoed around her.  
She carried her own sword that ached for execution, and she moved closer to him to counter his intent. The princess was like an angel who was parting the heavens before her, bringing a message of authority. That was one more moment away from cutting the man's throat.  
The archer held the sword's edge to Imada's neck, his fingers collecting with a pained desire. His patience was bothered by the princess showing up here in the courtyard.  
Yuki leaned over to push his sword away, her face glowing with proper beauty. The landscape of her eyes and lips offered a beautiful ballad, a whisper of dreams.  
“He killed your family,” TJ said. “This coward deserves an end.”  
“It is better to keep him alive to be made an example out of,” Yuki said.  
“What happened to the eye for an eye?”  
“I think some actions in compassion might be better than petty revenge.”  
“I can't help feel there is the Doctor's influence here.”  
A woman stepped out of the shadows like a hurling wind, her cutting form shifted through the hanging darkness, and her hair wrestled with the slight breeze. She seemed calm as the battle that once raged here, availing herself to the compensation for a win here.  
She didn't want to see any blood spilled here.  
“Well, I do try my best,” the Doctor said with a burning smile.  
The princess took a step further, collecting herself, and she looked like a hurricane that was ready to hit the face of Japan. Her twisting features, despite the make-up she wore, tore with a modest rage. She threw her fist into Imada's face that knocked him to the ground.  
His defeated form wailed to the pavement, trampling in a heap, while a tremor of hurt crawled over his features as he spat. Her knuckles did not show any bruises, and her stagnant form remained on the ground.  
Yuki turned to the others swaying in the soft light that buoyed from the flickering torches along the palace walls, and her features grew more controlled like an authoritative figure. There was a storm in her eyes. Her ladylike manners became a contrast.  
“The others have agreed to leave the palace after their leader proved himself to be a coward,” Yuki said. “They will not be bothering anymore after I paid off their debts.”  
No doubt they would slip into darkness after the events were finished here. The surrendering night eased over them like a thick blanket, invading the brooding parts of the royal palace grounds.  
She turned to the Doctor who stayed rooted in her place, her presence like a maelstrom that could not be ignored. Her many stories of death breathed into her eyes, her face taunt above the crude violence of war. The Doctor's stare bore into others like hammers.  
The princess turned her head to the Doctor as she made good on her promise: “Their lives will be spared since they laid down their weapons in a truce.”  
Yuki turned to one of the imperial guard who was in the sidelines, and her voice became a barking whirl of orders. Her inviting warmth was replaced by a coldness that went with the sway of her words.  
“There is an old man who is a prisoner in the gallows,” Yuki said to him. “Make sure he is released.”  
“Yes, m'lady.”  
“He is a stoic, strong man of iron will. He is like a gentle giant and might need some persuading.”

Chapter sixty  
The dungeons smacked of old burns and crude blotches that looked sick beneath the low ceilings. Everything was an acquiring mess, damp, ugly, dirty, meant for the worst animals who made insult to law.  
And yet the old man was there with his hands locked in chains. His gray features resembled fossil bones as his cheeks scratched with engraved line, growing a little restless in the dark. He heard the sound of the door opening with more intruders.  
Imada's guard at the door grew confused.  
The guard glanced at the door being left ajar while two soldiers walked up to the front doors.  
“What is the meaning of this?” the ninja said.  
“We come to collect Kamachi-san,” a soldier said.  
“He's a prisoner here.”  
“Not anymore. Your precious Imada is no longer in power. The empress has come back.”  
The old man listened to the words with a hopeful feeling, and he saw the young men at the door looking more like imperial. Now the ninja lifted his sword with the intent of making good a fight.  
The old man simply lifted his foot and kicked the ninja from behind, knocking him over into a clumsy fashion. Kamachi was going to remember to call him the “awkward ninja” after seeing him dance around stupid on his feet for a moment.  
It was enough time for the imperial guards to take out the ninja with snapping moves, their swords disarming the ninja's weapon.  
“I don't want to be sitting here cuffed anymore,” Kamachi said.  
“You are free man,” one of the rescuers said. “The orders came from Yuki herself to free you.”  
“Well, what are you waiting for?”  
“Are you still loyal to her?”  
“What kind of idiot question is that?”  
The rescuers nodded to each other as they made haste to release the old man from chains. They took the key from the ninja before taking it to the cuffs, unlocking them. There grew a persistent darkness in this place that was not nourishing.  
It was the Imada influence that seeped into this place, leaving a sad conflict in this royal house. Now the reign of hell was coming to an end, and it left many a man to be free from the awful infliction that spread like a sickness. It was time to heal.  
The old man turned his face towards the others, getting up to his feet after fixing the keys to the cuffs. It was good to get his blood going again, a renewed burst of energy tackled him as he stood on his feet, a jutting figure.  
Kamachi scowled at the ninja with a sneering, animal instinct, though the ninja did not flinch from his candid outburst. He couldn't believe what was happening, but was glad that the changing tide was turning in his favor. He looked like an old warrior ready to join his army once more.  
“Is Yuki here in the palace?” Kamachi said.  
“She is indeed,” the soldier said. “She held back the evil flames that took hold of this place. And there is a strange woman named the Doctor here.”  
“I know of her. She is trusting. However, there is one thing.”  
“What is it?”  
“Give me an extra sword. I still want to add my skills as a fighter,” Kamachi said.  
“Then you shall come with us.”  
The old man felt the rage of the old days coming back to him, and it was comforting. He would make a name of himself in a worthwhile fight, and he would do this in the name of the empress.  
No more sitting in the cell. 

Chapter sixty-one  
The night settled like the wind and the courtyard became clearing grounds when the treaty was implemented between the palace and the invaders willing to look the other way. She stood with a temperament that would not be vanquished.  
Yuki became a symbol of beautiful power, and she held the sword in her left hand like a warrior who only began to cleanse the world with a sensible note.  
There grew an overwhelming sense of the sakura that heaved into the air with a mildew scent, brushing the air with the summer fill. The flowers added to the night's share of optimism.  
She was provocative, sincere, and yet firm in her presence. Her face lit up against the rage of darkness, and she was a mountain that roared. This girl would not back down from any heartbeat of war if need be.  
Even more, she would not even glance in TJ's direction while disallowing any feelings to get in her way. She was acting more like a royalty in every passing moment.  
She turned to the others who stood near her, and the made a locking stare with TJ who was on the edge of the courtyard. The Doctor stayed where she was, feeling like another chapter was about to close here. Their bench-marked forms wailed with sharp outlines.  
“I must order you off these grounds,” Yuki said. “I'll make sure the imperial guards know about this.”  
“What?” TJ said.  
“I have to contend with showing strength by taking no sides with anyone, not even you. There is something else...”  
“Ah, yes,” the Doctor said.  
“My fiancé will be here in the morning which doesn't give me a lot of time. I'll give you time to rest for the night. But you'll need to be gone by morning.”  
“That's showing a lot of appreciation,” TJ snarled.  
The Doctor stepped forward as she collapsed her hand on his shoulder, holding him back like he was a dog on a leash. The whisper of winds still melted into the night while the trees shook with a sadness.  
Even the Doctor remained a lordly diplomat who knew what to say and do, and her thoughtful stance fell in her features. She knew when not to push too hard when it came to being in the middle of politics.  
“Your wishes will be obeyed, your majesty,” the Doctor said. “Thank you for being considerate.”  
“Very good,” Yuki said.  
She didn't even look at TJ anymore during the whole of the conversation, casting off into her little island of self-importance. She was like a ghost who was so aloof, her features twisting into a hardness of authority expected to be followed.  
Her words were like poison to him, a sting to his heart. She did not even make a smile. Yuki lifted her hand to her robes while the fluttering of wind raked at her clothing, making her like a paper doll.  
“I'm sure you'll rule with a firm hand, and still show compassion,” the Doctor said.  
“I must wait for my fiancé now,” the princess said. “I wish there was another way.”  
“Don't be too hard on yourself,” the Doctor said. “We understand, don't we?'  
TJ said nothing.

Chapter sixty-two  
Despite everything, and the events unfolding, the guests were each given a room of their own. The cheerful walls and the roaring décor offered some comfort under the brawling ceilings that bellowed with extravagance. This place became a sad page in an unhappy book.  
The Doctor checked over her given room, nodding, a little too pleased with herself going over the rambling bloom of colors and expensive furniture. She saw the place as a simple delight and it was more than she could hope for in her last night in Japan. She closed the window shutters with a bright-eyed glance, her lips forming a crooked smile.  
“This isn't what I was expecting,” TJ said.  
“I'm sure it'll be all forgotten,” the Doctor said. “Some say that time is a good healer. I would know.”  
“I feel... betrayed by her.'  
“See it as a lesson learned.”  
“I'm feeling more like a rat being pushes away from the palace grounds. How can you sit there enjoying the room around you?”  
“Why not?”  
“This is ridiculous. We're being treated like unwanted guests.”  
“I'm glad it is over, and we were able to avert a disaster,” the Doctor said.  
“You see in the good in everything, don't you? TJ said.  
There was a breeze of anger settling into the archer's face, and the rush of hurt still raked his chest. Under the current highlights of the night, he felt the end of the world coming to him with drowned emotions.  
“Please, don't disappoint me,” the Doctor said to the archer.  
“If I ever could.”  
“Of gods and queens...” the Doctor began.  
“Hmm?”  
“I'm trying to remember something about a quote. Of gods and queens, the rulers close and far. For they are the makers of the world.”  
“I'm settling for the night in my room,” TJ said.  
“Sometimes we are not meant to be gods, and there are people who are meant to be higher than ordinary men. Such as an empress.”  
“You're a goddess.”  
“Well, I wouldn't spread it around too much as I'm trying to keep it the best kept secret in the universe.”  
“I wish things didn't turn out this way...”  
“I'll see you in the morn, all right. We'll get you back to the TARDIS in Qichang before we run into any more trouble.”  
“Don't you ever get tired of it?” TJ asked.  
“I think you should be going. My advice? Sleep it off.”  
His shoulders slouched slightly, he made his departure from the windswept, cumbersome room filled with riches. This place felt like a world of beauty fit for the gods. He would leave the Doctor's quarters to go back to his own which was just across the hall, just a short walk. He stepped into the hallway before going into his own room.  
His hand gripped the shojin as he pulled it aside, light as a paper feather. It would lead to the simplest comforts of the room that was filled with a candle, a reading table and a tatami for sleeping.  
And an unexpected guest. 

Chapter sixty-three  
His heart seemed to stop as the world came to a blinding halt, and his thoughts spilled into a confusion. He stood paralyzed with drowned feelings at the doorway. He saw the refined features of the princess as her gallant beauty was framed by the dangling robes that slipped around her ankles.  
There grew a silence in her eyes as her luring features were housed by the long rivers of dark hair that fell loosely around her neck, a sweetness stirring from her informal display. She wore a garnished kimono which wrapped around her pretty hips like a hug, reminding him of her womanly ways.  
She took a few steps towards him, a shuffling motion, her feet so soft like whispers on the floor. Her finger lifted to her lips to suggest being quiet, her touch was like a magical thing from a fairy book. Yuki brushed along his cheeks with the skimming movements of her hands, offering him a small solace.  
It did seem like a dream to him hovering like a thousand glories, and he could see the reaching blaze in her eyes. There was softness there like none before. Her lips trembled as she stood before him not as an empress, but a woman. One could see her kimono never wrinkled, always perfect.  
So much like her.  
His heart slammed against his chest with a love's note.  
“I can be here for only a few moments,” Yuki said. “No one knows I'm here yet.”  
“I hope you didn't get lost in your own palace,” TJ said.  
“I could not go back to the room where my parents were killed, so I had them sealed off. It's not a good place anymore.”  
“Which begs the question... what are you doing here?”  
“I... I wanted to tell you that I'm glad you helped me. You were good enough to put up with me when I know I was not being reasonable.”  
“You always have an odd way of showing thanks,” TJ said.  
“Was it worth it for me to come here?”  
The archer thought of it for only a moment, and he looked down to the sullen holes of her eyes, seeing the intensity of life there.  
“Yes. Of course, yes,” he said.  
“There must be a time when one must be firm, and stand at hand. I wear a symbol of strength now, and I bear the weight of royalty. I do want to thank you on behalf of Japan.”  
“I still don't understand what you're doing here.”  
“I wanted to keep my identity a secret during the whole time I was with you. It was very important. Please don't take it the wrong way,” Yuki said.  
“I try not to.”  
“I want to extend my gratitude to you, and your doctor friend as well. For you, I have something a little extra. I leave you a little gift,” Yuki said.  
The young girl stood on the tips of her toes, sweeping above the floor like a Tinkerbell, and her hand lifted to his shoulders. She pressed her mouth to his, bringing all the world of pleasures to a single moment that lingered on his lips.  
There was that feeling of comfort sinking on their lips as they kissed deeply, heartily, and she gave him a fresh breath of air that was soothing. It felt like the kingdom of love dragged them to a better place for a passing moment. A warm promise hanged on her gentle lips that made him crazy for more.  
She was a beautiful woman with hidden desires, and her hands moved like the softness of a doll, a longing still in her eyes. Yuki slipped back from him as she pushed him softly like that of a lover, holding him back as they felt the departure that twisted like a long, cruel crevice. Her voice was like that of a whisper of summer.  
“It is a memory of a treasure,” she said. “Meant only for you.”  
TJ said nothing.  
“Tomorrow morning, my fiancé will be here to take his wedding vows, but tonight I wanted to come to you as I am. That is why I must ask you to leave at your earliest before he and his brethren arrives.”  
“I understand.”  
“I'll remember you always,” Yuki continued. “But I must be empress now. I don't want to give you the illusion of what's between us. What is past is past. I hope the best for you.”  
TJ didn't say anything as his feelings tightened in his chest, and he felt the earth move beneath him like a drifting chasm. What kindness did she bring by coming here? She made things worse by doing this.  
There was only sadness in his face, and he stood like a little puppy that's been kicked to the side. He believed that the young girl would sprout wings and fly away, and none of this would be real.  
“Please, don't be hurt,” Yuki said. “The pain will go away... eventually.”  
“I wish that was true,” TJ said.  
“You're a good man, and something will happen for you. Might not be today, or tomorrow. But you will be aware for your goodness.”  
“You have my word that I will not speak anything of this,” TJ said.  
“Please don't forget me,” Yuki said. “Sing little songs about me if you do not sleep well.”  
“It'll be impossible to forget you.”  
With a subtle move, and like the winds of the east, she lifted her finger to his lips now, and let it rest there for a lingering moment. With a final sway, like a dove in the night breeze, she varnished from the room as if she was never there. It was almost like a dream that happened to him, and his thoughts turned to the breathless kiss that stole him away.  
Outside, the fire of the forest was dying out as the forever night blew over for a spell, and the feast of silence whistled all the more between the surviving trees. The somber march of flames waned under the brawling moon that sifted behind the high rise of mountains. Japan was safe for now. 

Chapter sixty-four  
They prepared the horses to ride out at the earliest crack of dawn, and the outsiders bailed out before the sun could peer over the mountains. The trampled paths led through the back ways where they would find a different direction in finding the small town of Qichang. They couldn't take the main roads due to the overwhelming fire damage.  
Still the night was still out like a swelling beast freezing, and the thriving route paved through the forest like a parched answer in the dark. They would only need to follow it before finding the next town.  
The Doctor took the lead as she tore through the trails with the horse she rode on, her robes flitting behind her with a wild spectacle. She was like a warrior in glory, knowing that all the darkness, and the enemy, retreated to the hills like demons in the night.  
The clapping of horses' hooves fell against the dirt road like a thrashing, screeching through the woods in a stormy effect. Such savage sounds, a swooshing of whinnying, tore through with a confident stride.  
Now the Doctor put as much distance as she could behind her, wailing under the waking breeze of the night slowly turning to morning. These parts looked haunted with the crouching trees buried in ghostly figures. TJ caught up with her as they rushed into the thick of the forest, reaching a part of the road where they could slow to a simple trot.  
“That was pretty exhilarating,” the Doctor said.  
“Was that necessary?” TJ said.  
“I take it you're not a morning person?”  
“Well, I'm not the ride-the-horse-as-fast-as-you-can type.”  
“We should do this more often.”  
“No thanks.”  
“You're all right?”  
“Maybe.”  
“It doesn't have much of a happy ending, but we did avoid bloodshed. That's helpful,” the Doctor said. “Isn't it?”  
“How do you do it, Doctor? How do you forget the memories you carry with you?” TJ asked.  
The Doctor looked at her friend for a moments the sweetness of her hair rippled around her face. Her flowery cheeks grew smooth as peaches while her eyes gazed between the threads of her hair, matching him with a beautiful stare that could stop all time and space.  
She tapped the side of her temple with her fingers, giving a sort of dramatic pause. Her skin was like alabaster, being smooth as China dishes. The Doctor moved like some mythical figure who escaped her own people only to roam on her own. Was it possible that there were people who worshiped the very ground she walked on?  
The Doctor looked stunning in red, flailing and flowing, her robes snapped in the gentle wind. In a way, she looked like royalty herself as she gripped the reins on her horse. Her rousing voice lifted with a small answer while she rode the horse towards Qichang down the parched route.  
“They're all in here,” the Doctor said while holding her finger. “I never forget a moment.”  
“You're lucky,” TJ said. “You have such freedom.”  
“Well, it does have a trade-off. You really don't make many long-lasting friends when you travel a lot.”  
“I think we have a ways to go yet before get to the TARDIS. Maybe you could tell me about some of your stories.”  
“I'll be more than happy to. Though you seem to be my only audience. Imagine that?”  
The Doctor began to tell TJ about the old days when she used to sort out different worlds and help people overthrow governments. And she used to be an entirely different person right down to having an Adam’s apple. It was strange to hear these things, but yet comforting to know that she walked through the cosmos as a savior. Her soft words slipped between her lips as she spoke in a gentle way.  
She resembled a teacher riding on the horse, sitting tall and shoulders straight, her striking figure giving a sense of authority. The Doctor brushed her lips, playfully biting on them. Her enticing mouth offered stories of old.  
TJ listened to his friend for a while and let the rest of the world slip by him, and the sound of her stories reminded him of a soothing, witchery spell that made everything better. He turned to the forest as the trees sang a gentle prayer to him while a flicker of leaves teased with a sharp clatter. The wind sounded beautiful like the princess' voice. 

THE END

 

September 3, 2014  
37.347 words


End file.
